Seventeen Blades
by BStyles4Life
Summary: Anniversary. Award. My life was going great, until I met him. And he bears a secret that haunts my very soul. Now I have to decide whether to trust him, or to protect myself from the man that caused me all of my pain. Either way, one of us might get hurt.
1. The Anniversary

**Yep, this is it! The sequel to "A Hero's Path"! If you need to know more about the characters listed below, then it is imperative that the first story is read first. As for veteran readers:**

**I decided to introduce two very familiar characters to the Alto Marian scene, since it would be foolish to continue writing without mentioning them. As said in the summary, one other character is introduced, since the plot of the story is fixated around him. Just so you know, six years have passed since the original story, so now it has caught up with the current year. The first person view, since it is no longer a flashback, will shift from Calvin to Molly periodically, but most of the story will be centered around Molly for a better view of her past. The story will also follow the calendar as much as possible, bringing in the holiday season. **

* * *

It was a beautiful evening in the ancient city of Alto Mare. I got dressed in a suit I bought the previous afternoon. The need for it was for a special event at the restaurant. Since 1999, the first actual year of business all the way to 2009, it had been ten years, and that meant that it was time for the Anniversary party. Of course, I couldn't join until I tied this tie, which I had spent fifteen minutes doing.

"Dad," Molly called. "Are you ready yet?"

"Give me a second!"

Six years had passed, and now I was 35. My leg had healed, and it was almost as if nothing had ever happened to it. But still, none of the memories are fazed in the least. There were some small incidents that had taken place over the course of these years, but not significant enough to top our battle with Mateo. One thing I will never forget was when Arceus made me third in command, a position originally held by Latios. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

"Screw this," I ripped the tie off of my neck and went into the closet to change. When I came back out, I had ditched the suit, and was now wearing new jeans, a pair of black loafers, and a white turtleneck shirt topped by the black blazer that was originally part of the suit. "Much better."

I picked up a small box that was on my nightstand, and left my room. Over the banister and down on the first floor, a teenage girl stood. In an attempt to match her aqua blue hair, she wore a long, tiered skirt with a patchwork design of a similar color, brown sandals, and a sleeveless white shirt. She put a flower in her hair, which had grown down past her shoulders. It was flattened out and now looked silky smooth.

"What happened to the suit?" Molly asked.

"I ditched it, I couldn't get the tie to work," I gave her the box. "Happy seventeenth birthday."

She opened the box. In it, was a necklace with a star-shaped pendant, which had five extra pinnacles on its edges. Molly looked at it and started to smile.

"Wow, it's beautiful," She hugged me. "Thanks, dad."

* * *

The city was vibrant with life this evening. Music was playing, people were out enjoying themselves; it was a site like no other. As we walked up the street, I wondered if the anniversary was going to be big, or just a pushover for other parties going on across the city.

Boy was I wrong.

"Are those all our customers?" There was a large crowd of people headed towards the restaurant. MY restaurant, "Il Posto Per Godere". I walked up to a guy walking across from us. "Hey, where are you going?"

"That restaurant, over there," I followed his finger back to my restaurant. I held my head. "There's an anniversary party tonight, it's a can't-miss."

He walked into the restaurant. Molly joined me.

"What was that all about?"

"You know Molly," I turned to her. "This may be the biggest night of my career."

We walked inside. It was hectic. Almost every seat was taken, and there were still more people coming. Not only that, both tourists and civilians were dressed up in fancy clothing. I had hired some more employees over the years and now with a crew of twenty-five, it was just enough to handle the incoming orders. And who better to manage in my absence than Danielle Stewart?

"I'll be right back Molly," I walked into the kitchen. The employees had paused for a moment to listen to what Danielle was saying.

'Okay people,' The stern-looking Gardevoir said. 'This is a big night, and we have orders coming in like crazy. I'm going to need everyone doing their best tonight. You'd hate to let the manager down.'

I leant against the edge of the doorway. Some of them spotted me, and a bit of fear developed in their eyes. "Yes ma'am!" They all said in unison, and then went back to their individual jobs.

'Glad you could make it Calvin,' She said without turning around. 'Did you get your tie to work?'

"Uh....no, I ditched the suit altogether," I said. "I never learned how to tie a tie."

'Haven't you ever worn a suit?' She turned around and stared me down.

"Not since my marriage 19 years ago."

She shook her head. 'Well, at least you made an attempt to look good.'

We walked back out to the front. As a manager, I should've gone up to my office to avoid all of the noise, but I preferred to help out and take orders. I gained respect from the other employees that way. I took a pencil and a notepad and started to take individual orders. As I was doing this, I noticed a familiar couple talking amongst themselves. "Oh my god....no way!" I walked up to the two of them, and started to chuckle. The two of them looked up, and the woman's face turned red and she looked away.

"Calvin," Giratina said quietly. "Don't make a big deal out of this."

"We weren't expecting you to show up tonight," Arceus said.

I continued laughing. "What kind of manager would I be if I didn't show up to my own restaurant's anniversary party?" I called Molly over.

"Dad, what's wr--" When she looked at the frustrated couple sitting at the table, she joined me in laughter. "Can I just say how awkward this looks?"

"I asked Giratina to accompany me to _your_ anniversary party, after you carelessly forgot about your other one," The two of us stopped laughing.

"What are you talking about?"

"Yes, it's been ten years since I appointed you," My eyes widened. This was truly an awkward moment for the four of us. I intentionally broke the tip of my pencil.

"Oh, whoops, my pencil broke," I gave it to Molly, and she ran off to never sharpen it. "Another waiter will come by to take your order. Enjoy your evening!"

I walked away. Instead of taking orders, I now went around to ask customers if they were enjoying themselves. I got some 'congratulations' from regular customers, and some 'great' and 'amazing' from others. As I approached a few more tables, I noticed another face. There was a young girl, probably Molly's age, sitting all by herself at a table near the window, drawing on what looked like a sketchbook. Her face reminded me of someone, and as I walked towards her, it finally clicked.

"Latias!" I mumbled, finally remembering the face. She turned to look at me, purely in shock.

"Excuse me?" Wrong girl, Calvin. I didn't need two awkward moments in one night. Plus, more exposure to the legendaries over the past few years had caused me to vividly denounce each and every aura they emitted. She wasn't emitting any to which I could remember, or classify for that matter.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I sat down across from her. "I was trying to remember the name of the city's guardian to pass the time."

"Oh yes, that's right," She looked relieved for some strange reason.

"Um, are you expecting someone?"

"No, I'm doing a favor for my grandfather. He's the city's curator....who are you, by the way?"

"I'm the owner and manager of this restaurant," She smiled and passed me a letter, then continued drawing.

I opened the letter. From what I read, I was supposed to attend a special event called "The Fine Arts of Alto Mare" tomorrow, at the Museum. Wow, I never thought I would actually have to go there, but it had always interested me at how much history this city held. I closed the letter. When I looked up, she had vanished. I looked around, but it looked as if she had left.

"I'll be there, I guess...." I got up, and rejoined Molly and Danielle at the bar.

* * *

The anniversary party was scheduled to end at midnight, but unfortunately I couldn't say no to the wave of customers still coming in, and the party went on until around 2:30 in the morning. When we finally closed, the three of us stood at the door and said our goodbyes to everyone, and then went back inside to clean up. Employees were walking around, picking up plates and dishes, wiping up the tables and turning up chairs, and I was mopping the floor. What had begun to swirl around in my mind was that mysterious girl who vanished without a trace, but had enough time to give me this letter.

"What's that, dad?" Molly asked, wiping down a counter.

"A letter this young girl gave me," I gave it to her, and she started to read it. "Something about a ceremony at the museum tomorrow night."

"The Fine Arts of Alto Mare?" She asked. "Dad....you've been nominated for an award!"

"What?" She showed me the letter. Along with tickets to the event, the letter continued to read that the restaurant and I were nominated for the 2009 Culinary Arts award, for outstanding performance for a decade. "This is great!"

When we finished cleaning, I called all of the employees together to talk to them, in the kitchen.

"Okay people," I said. "Before you all leave, I have a few things to say. I've been informed tonight that "Il Posto Per Godere" has been nominated for an award for outstanding performance over the course of this last decade," There was some indistinct chatter. "I will be attending the ceremony tomorrow along with Molly and Danielle, so cross your fingers and _pray_ that we beat out whatever competition we've had!"

There was some applause, some agreed with me. "Okay, closing time," We all left the kitchen and one by one, exited the restaurant and went our separate ways.

"Dad, I have to ask you something," She turned to me. "What possessed Arceus to go out with Giratina?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely something to think about."

* * *

**A little side note: **

**I didn't start noticing these little things until after I had finished "A Hero's Path", but you will find it interesting why I chose this title:**

**-As of 2009, Molly is now 17. That was obvious.**

**-Calvin has lived in Alto Mare for 17 years.**

**-As mentioned in the title, the story definitely has something to do with the sword and the number 17, but won't be mentioned until later.**

**A little Fun fact:**

**Calvin has been Arceus's Aide for 10 years, and has been a restaurant manager for 10 years. That makes 20. But wait. If you take those three years off from when the restaurant was closed (from the first story), then what number does that leave you with?**

**Please review!**


	2. The Ceremony

**I haven't gotten an actual chapter count yet, but I do know that it will be long-winded, probably even longer than the first story. This chapter starts off in Molly's first-person point of view, but shifts back to Calvin towards the end. I also decided to incorporate a few real-life events and part-takings to the story, which will help my characters get to know actual characters from the movie.**

* * *

I woke up that same morning. The sounds of the dishes and the voices of the customers from the night before were still ringing in my ear. What was even better was that the restaurant was nominated for an award. It made me so excited. That feeling soon diminished when I looked at the alarm clock. It read 9:03.

"Oh crap!" I jumped out of bed. "I'm late for my cooking class!"

Since my life had somewhat returned to normal over the years, dad thought it was time that I enroll in a school—I chose The Alto Mare Academy of Art. I didn't actually draw since I sucked at it, but I was deeply interested in the Culinary Arts, since it ran in the family now. I quickly got prepared for the day. Having no time to eat breakfast, I scurried out the front door, and stood on the boardwalk.

"I'll never make to school in time on foot," I looked up to the roof. "Unless...Star! Hey Star!"

He heard my call, and swooped down from the roof.

"Could you give me a ride to school?" He nodded. He never liked to admit if the job was too hard. I mean over the last six years, he _has_ gotten exceptionally older.

I climbed onto his back, and he took to the sky.

* * *

We landed in front of the school. The campus, much like the city, was separated into subdivisions. Canals cut their way through campus, so the only way to get to the other buildings was by bridge.

"Thanks Star," I rubbed his head. "See you at home."

He flapped his wings and took to the sky again. I ran across a bridge and towards the subdivision labeled "Culinary Arts", and slipped into the classroom. My cooking center had already been prepared.

'That's weird.'

"Is there a problem, Melinda?"

I spun around. "Mrs. Giordano! I—I'm sorry I'm late."

"You've never been late to my class before, Melinda," She was the only one in the school who had opted to call me by my whole first name. She said that if I wanted to be taken seriously in the culinary world, then the nicknames, or shortened names in this case, would have to be dropped for professionalism. "Why the sudden tardiness?"

"I'm sorry, I overslept," I said. "I was attending my dad's anniversary party, and it didn't end until after two in the morning."

"Well, we still have about an hour of class time," She checked her watch. "Where is that recipe you were talking about bringing in?"

"Um...it's..." I dug into my bag. It took me a while before I finally found it. "Here," I gave it to her. She looked at it for a moment, and then handed it back to me.

"This is your lucky day," She said. "Why don't you try it out for me?" My stomach started to growl exceptionally loud. My face turned red. "And...don't hesitate to taste your food when you're done."

My embarrassment turned into determination, and I quickly grabbed a spare apron and some seasonings from the shelves behind me.

* * *

Mrs. Giordano walked around the class, tasting individual students' recipes. She stood for a second, and then gave them a grade. For a woman who tasted food all day long, she had managed to stay surprisingly fit. I became nervous as she got closer.

'Don't worry Molly' I told myself. 'You did everything right, you had the right amount of seasonings, you put the stove at the right temperature...I mean it's not like you're going to get an "F".'

Mrs. Giordano finally walked over to me. She came equipped with a wooden spoon. She took a spoonful from my pot and tasted it. I crossed my fingers.

"Nice combination, I see you've stirred well," She said. "There's also a hint of...what is it..."

"P-Paprika?"

"Yes, that's it," She put down her spoon. "You've earned yourself an "A"."

Better than what I was hoping for.

The bells in a nearby tower tolled, thus ending class. I couldn't leave my food here, so I grabbed a plastic container and poured it out. "This is for dad to taste."

I picked up my bag and headed towards the door.

"Oh, Melinda. Could you stick around for a moment?"

I walked back to Mrs. Giordano's desk.

"Now I've looked over your grades, and I must say, they are quite astounding," She said. "Your father will be very pleased to hear this."

I smiled.

"However..."

That smile faded fast. "H-However?"

"You're missing a science credit, my dear," She said. "You can't graduate without one."

"Science is an art?"

"Technically speaking, yes," She went on. "You would be amazed at what you can make in science pertaining to art."

"Isn't there something I can take to make up for science?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, nothing else is an art. May I ask what the problem is?"

I sighed. "It's just that...I've had...some bad experiences relating to science in the past, and I hoped that I could graduate without taking it."

Luckily for me, Mrs. Giordano always showed sympathy towards her students. She started typing on her computer, and came up with something. "Okay...the least I can do is remove your requirement for science...but you still need one more credit. And it has to be an art."

"What about drawing?"

"Melinda, you told me yourself at the start of the semester," She said. "You can't draw."

"It beats taking science."

"Okay, I'll sign you up for it," She started typing. "You are to report to Mr. Mancini's class tomorrow, after your history class. May I warn you, he won't be as forgiving as I am."

"Thanks Mrs. Giordano!" I left the classroom and walked to my next class.

* * *

School ended at around 4:30 in the afternoon. My stomach started to growl again, but I wasn't planning to eat until I got to the restaurant, so that's where I headed. No longer having to worry about school, I started to think about the nomination again. It was great that after these last ten years, all the hard work that was put into the restaurant, including a very successful anniversary party, finally paid off. We were supposed to attend the ceremony at 7:30 sharp this evening, so that gave us just enough time to prepare. I arrived at the restaurant, and pushed the door open. Dani was standing behind the counter, adding up revenues for the day. She looked up.

'Oh hello Molly. How was your day?'

"Great," She said. "I got an "A" for my recipe."

'An "A"?' I put the container on the counter, and Dani read it. 'I'm sure Calvin would love to see this.'

"Where is he?"

'Upstairs, in his office.'

I walked around to the other side of the restaurant, and opened the door to a now secluded set of stairs. I climbed them and got to the second floor. Dad's office door was open. He could be seen sitting behind his desk. I knocked on the door. "Dad, I'm back from school."

"Oh good, come in," I walked up to his desk, and placed the container on it. "What's this?"

"My recipe," I said proudly. "I got an "A" for it, and I wanted you to taste it."

"Oh, sure," He pulled the lid off, and picked up a spare spoon on his desk. I'll never know why he has one of those in his office. "Molly…this is amazing!"

"Thank you," I blushed. As a father, his opinion means everything. But as a person who is already familiar with the culinary field, it felt like a job interview.

"You know Molly," He got up. "When we started this restaurant, I literally cooked all of the foods. Sometimes I still do to school the newer employees, but it just brings back so many memories with what you can do."

I smiled.

"Anyway, your teacher, Mrs. Giordano called," He continued. "She said that she's dropped your science class for...drawing? Care to explain?"

"Okay, I know I told you that I couldn't draw," I sat down in a nearby chair. "But I couldn't stomach taking science."

"Why not?"

"Dad...you know..." I ran my hand through my hair. He immediately understood.

"Oh...and taking science might bring back images of when you were..." I nodded. "I can understand," He checked his watch. "Well, it's 5 o'clock. We're leaving a bit early today, because we have to get ready to win an award tonight!"

I forgot all about science and reminded myself about the award. This was going to be a big night for all of us. The three of us cleaned up, and left the employees in charge. Dad was nervous for a while, but it was time he started trusting them with such a big task. We went back home and for the next two hours, we got prepared. Most of my clothes were composed of colors that went well with my hair, but this evening called for something different. I found a white dress and some strap-on sandals in the back of my closet. The dress was a similar version of the clothes I wore yesterday, with the exception that the top now had sleeves, and there was a small, similarly-colored jacket to go with it. I quickly got dressed. I ran a brush through my hair a few times until it was smooth again, and then, finally prepared, went to rejoin the others. It was a fifteen-minute gondola ride to the museum, and it was already 7:05. Dani was helping dad with his tie.

'There you go,' She stepped back to get a better look at him. 'You look like a true businessman.'

"Molly, you look wonderful," He said, both of them turning to me as I joined them. "Well, it's time to go."

The gondola that had been sitting outside the house all these years was finally being put to use. However for us to use it, it had to be refurbished. Moss had grown on the underside, and some of the wood was starting to rot. Now, it looked like brand new.

* * *

We got off the gondola at a boardwalk near the museum, and walked up a cobblestone path to it. People were gathering from every direction, some of them other restaurant owners, artists, and historians. We walked up to the main door. I gave a security guard the tickets.

"Name and occupation."

"Calvin Winthrop, restaurant manager," I said. The guard gave us a nod and let us through.

The museum was packed. The scene looked more like a royal ball rather than an award ceremony. Waiters were walking around with Hors d'œuvres and drinks, and music was playing loud enough to be heard over the indistinct chatter from people all around us.

"It's 7:25, so the ceremony must start soon," I said to Molly.

'We'll go find some seats,' Danielle said, and she and Molly walked off into the crowd. I picked up a glass of wine from a waiter's tray and started to sip at it.

"That's an interesting choice of hair color," A raspy voice said from behind me. "I've never seen anything like that before."

I turned around and saw a man, a bit shorter than I was. He was at least in his late sixties, wearing a velvet-colored suit and a somewhat-matching tie. There were still some black streaks in his hair, but the majority of it had turned gray, and the excess had been tied behind his head wih an elastic band.

"Yeah, it's all natural," I said to him. "It...it runs in her mother's side of the family," Wow, could I lie or what?

"Ah, I see. Does the Gardevoir belong to her?"

"Oh...no," I said. "That's Danielle. She's the Assistant Manager."

His eyes widened. "Assistant Manager? For what, might I ask?"

"My restaurant, "Il Posto Per Godere"," I continued. "She's been Assistant Manager for the last six years and we've gone the last ten with a perfect record. She uses telepathy to communicate with the other employees."

"Ah…."The Place To Enjoy"," He translated. "What an appealing name."

"Molly chose it," I said. "The girl with the blue hair."

He nodded. "We should probably exchange our names too. It's less confusing that way."

"Calvin."

"Lorenzo."

"Nice to meet you," We shook hands.

* * *

At around 8:45, the waiters disappeared, and the ceremony started off. People took their seats. Molly and Danielle were sitting in the tenth row from the front. There were thirty rows behind us, and in them, were 15 wooden chairs. I took a seat and picked up a program for the evening. The first event featured a composer and his orchestra from Kanto. They were going to play a song called "A Thirst for Nature", something that I knew would eventually drive me into a coma. Next came the opening statement from the curator. The actual awards ceremony was after that, and was the last event of the evening and the bulk of the night.

"Fancy meeting you again, Calvin," Lorenzo said, sitting next to me. That same teenage girl from the night before sat down next to him, wearing a similarly-colored dress as his suit. "This is my granddaughter, Bianca."

"I believe we've met," We shook hands. "Wait....did you say...granddaughter?"

He nodded.

"You're the city's curator?!" He nodded again. "Small world."

The over head lights dimmed, and the stage lights took over. The curtains pulled back, revealing the orchestra and the composer. Over the course of two hours, I listened to the music. At first, it started off quiet, almost as if I was sitting in the terrace back at home, then the drums came in, and soon my peaceful environment turned into a raging storm. Halfway through the third quarter of the song, it sounded sad and mournful, like someone had died. It immediately started to remind me of Emmy. After that, the song was pretty much pointless. There was a round of applause when it ended. Lorenzo got up from his seat and walked to the stage. The second event had just started.

"Good evening, everyone," He said. "First, if you would be so kind as to give another round of applause to the entertainment of the evening," The audience did as it was told. "When this city was first founded, it was nothing more than a village. The citizens were worried more about trade and survival. A term like "art" only came to mind when a bucket of vibrant oils spilled to the ground. Children ran through it, mixing colors like red and yellow to make orange, yellow and blue to make green. When the adults got a hold of this, they were absolutely fascinated by the spectacle. The filled their hands with these oils and began to draw them pieces of tarp. Eventually, so many began to do this that competition flared. That competition inspired future generations to do what these people did, and later on the term "art" branched off into smaller subsidiaries, such as science, architecture, and food. And what was a village turned into a town, and that town turned into the city that we live in today. Such an accomplishment is liable of an award, and that is why you all are here this evening. Tonight we celebrate...The Fine Arts of Alto Mare."

* * *

Applause ensued. As Lorenzo walked off stage, he was approached by another man in a black suit, but was too far away for me to see his face. A woman walked onstage and started announcing nominees.

"That was an amazing speech," I said.

"I'm glad you like it," Bianca whispered to me. "We were up all night rehearsing it."

I noticed something strangely familiar about her. I knew I had seen her face somewhere before, but I just couldn't place it. I forgot about it for the moment and returned my stare to the stage. There were a few categories for the evening, all in chronological order: Architecture, science, and I still can't believe it, 2D and/or 3D Art, in which Bianca's name was announced. It shocked me that she was an artist, and apparently a good one, because she won the award in this field. The last art to be called was Culinary.

"Under the category 'Culinary Arts', there are seven nominees," She said. "Adriana Marino "The People's Eatery", Clara Esposito "The Grand Kitchen", Calvin Winthrop, "Il Posto Per Godere—"

"Oh, god," Dad muttered. "I'm going to get slaughtered."

"Nice way to keep your hopes up, dad," I said.

'He has a point,' Danielle added. 'The restaurants they're mentioning have had outstanding records for longer time periods than us.'

"And now," The announcer continued. "The winner of the 2009 Culinary Arts award is..."

She opened the envelope.

Dad and Danielle sat on the edges of their seats.

I crossed my fingers.

* * *

**I honestly can't wait to write my own chapters, because this story is only going to get better from here. I will introduce the third character as planned, but it won't be for a few chapters after this. That's when the plot of the story will take off. Keep reading!**


	3. The Tutor

When I walked into the kitchen back at the restaurant ant turned on the lights, I found myself surrounded by the employees. I jumped back.

"So?" One asked. "How did it go?"

I sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you guys...we were up against some tough competition, like "The People's Eatery"," Some awed when I mentioned the name. They too, knew that the quality of the other nominees topped ours in most categories.

"So we lost?"

I scoffed. "Like hell we did," Molly walked in, holding the 2009 Culinary Arts award. Everyone erupted in cheer.

* * *

"Calvin Winthrop, "Il Posto Per Godere"!"

The audience applauded dad as he got up from his seat and walked to the stage. After the many years of hard work, not only did we have a killer anniversary party, but now we won an award? This was definitely a crowning achievement.

"Thank you," Dad said over the microphone. "Wow, it's so amazing to hold this award. Five years ago I would've never thought I would've achieved something like this. I have to thank the employees at the restaurant, for their devotion and hard work over the years, my assistant manager Danielle, for her outstanding work managing in my absence and the first employee I had when I started, my daughter Molly, for giving me the name for the restaurant when it opened, and of course my wife, Emelina. She passed away before I could unveil, but she would be proud that it's achieved such an award."

There was applause as dad walked off the stage and returned to his seat.

'The speech was a bit crappy,' Danielle added.

"I was sweating bullets," He said. "But it was worth it."

* * *

The ceremony came to a close at around a quarter to twelve. As everyone walked towards the exit, someone called dad's name.

"Mr. Winthrop!" It was Bianca. She was holding what looked like a picture frame in her hand. "I wanted to give this to you the other night, but unfortunately I never let go of it."

Dad took it from her and looked at the picture. It was a scene from the anniversary party that was hand-drawn so well, it was almost as if we were looking at a black and white photo. We were equally astonished.

"Bianca...this is amazing," He said. "Is this what you were drawing the other night when you came by?"

She nodded. "I'm glad you like it."

"I will hang it in my office," He said. "Thank you."

I had a strong feeling that this wasn't the last time that we would meet, but I kept it to myself and waved goodbye. We had one more stop before we went home, and that was the restaurant. Dad was contemplating something about surprising the employees upon arrival, and said that they should know if their work over the years had paid off.

* * *

"...and here we are," Dad said, still holding the award. "Well, it's past closing time, and I know you all stuck around to hear the good news, but it's time to go home everyone. We have to get back to work in the morning."

"Just like that?" Another employee asked. "Nothing different?"

"Well we're not going to change the quality of our service just because of this award," Dad said. "It was our normal work schedule that won us an award in the first place, so hopefully we'll win another award in 2019 running on the same schedule."

They all agreed, and walked out of the kitchen. In just a few short minutes, the restaurant was empty, and the employees were walking up the street to their homes. So were we. Dad unlocked the door to the house and spotted Millie. Unlike everyone else, she showed no signs of age whatsoever.

"Millie, Look," He held up the award for her to admire. "We won the award!"

* * *

When I woke up the next morning to get ready for class, I made sure that I didn't have a repeat like the morning before. I set my alarm clock extra early and got prepared for the day before the sun came up. I left the house before dad did, which was pretty surprising, since he was usually the one who left before me. I started to walk up the street when I had an eerie feeling—like I was being watched. Since I wasn't "just human" anymore, it allowed me to hear and sense things that the average human couldn't. But just like everyone else, I had the same sense of sight. And unfortunately I didn't see anything. I continued walking, the eerie feeling lingering.

I had gotten on Mrs. Giordano's good side when I arrived early to her class this morning. That, reinforced with the "A" I got from my recipe yesterday, made her all too happy to see me. She lectured the class for an hour about seasonings and what and what not to use them in. I took notes for a while, and then dozed off until the bell tolled. She repeated her warning to me from the day before, but I replied with "I can get on anyone's good side" and walked over to Mr. Mancini's class. He seemed a bit shocked to see me, but hey, who blamed him?

"I thought you said you didn't draw," He said to me. I only smiled.

"That, I did," I said. "But I've recently had a change of heart."

Mr. Mancini was a man who looked like he had seen the world and then some, and he still did, because even as a teacher he occasionally took vacations to explore, and came back with dozens of drawings. He had just turned sixty, and I only know because Mrs. Giordano told me. He usually wore a gray and white sweater-vest and gray pants with some worn shoes and made an attempt at a comb over, but today he was wearing a new suit and shiny new dress shoes as if he was going somewhere. I would've asked, but then again I really didn't care.

"Have a seat Melinda, we're about to start," Mrs. Giordano had an excuse for calling me by my full first name. Mr. Mancini on the other hand, said that it was either a full name or AWOL.

"I've been planning a trip all year, and now it is time for me to depart," He said. "I won't be back until January, so a substitute will fill my place while I am gone. As for today, I need you to open your textbooks to page 64, take notes, and then I want you to go to your stations and draw the first thing that comes to mind. No stick figures will be allowed. Draw as if your visualization is behind a sheet of tracing paper."

Most of us took notes for the next thirty minutes, and then walked to our stations to try and draw whatever we could visualize. By the time class was over, I found that it was harder than I thought.

"Melinda, I will exempt you from any grade today," He said. "But it won't happen again. As an art teacher, I strive for perfection, and that is what I seek from young upcoming artists. Not many have managed to impress me in the past," He spun a picture around for me to see. "Actually, only one student managed to pass my class with an "A" plus."

"No way!" It was none other than Bianca, the girl from the ceremony last night. From the way she drew that picture of the restaurant, I couldn't see why she didn't amaze people.

"Anyhow," He spun the picture out of view again, shifting back to the subject at hand. "I tell this to all my students. Art is a gift, not a pushover. You made that choice at the start of the semester, and here you are again. So, if you want to pass my class, I suggest that you find a tutor who can help you learn how to draw."

I gulped. "Y—Yes sir."

* * *

"Find a tutor," I said as I walked down a very narrow street that afternoon. "I don't know anyone who knows how to draw...unless..." I walked past an alleyway, and my bracelet started to glow. "I wonder..." I slipped into the alleyway, and ran my hand against the wall until I found a trick door. I walked through, and immediately appeared in the garden of the Lati's.

"Latias," I called. "It's me, Molly. Are you here?"

'Molly!' She immediately consumed me in a bone crushing hug. "I haven't seen you in months!"

"I've been kind of busy," I mumbled. She put me down. "I want to ask you something. What do you know about art?"

'What do I know about art?' She repeated, surprised. 'Molly, I've lived here for decades, there's nothing I don't know. Why do you ask?'

"Well, I need a tutor for drawing, and I was wondering if you—"

'I'd love to!' She said happily. 'But...drawing? I thought you didn't draw.'

"I don't but...it was either that or science, and anything having to do with science just freaks me out."

'Okay then,' She picked my bag up and looked through it for a sheet of paper and a pencil. 'Be right back,' She disappeared, leaving me alone in the garden. Well, not all alone, there was the soul dew. I walked up to the fountain it stood on and looked at it.

"Hi Latios," I whispered. "Sorry I haven't been around lately, but I've been helping dad with the anniversary party, and we just got an award."

It blinked in appreciation. Latias reappeared, drawing on the sheet of paper. When she was done, she gave it to me to look at.

"What the—?!" Much like the photograph Bianca gave to dad, this one was almost a picture rendering of one of the canals in Alto Mare. There was a gondola making its way through, people, probably tourists on board, and I could see all of their faces very clearly. A small bridge arched over the canal, and there were people chatting and walking across it. My jaw dropped. "Latias...how did you do this?!"

'I have photographic memory,' She said, grinning.

"Oh, you've definitely got to teach me how to do this!"

'First thing tomorrow,' She said. 'Today I have to take your dad to see Arceus.'

"Let's go see him," We started walking back towards the entrance. "Did you know that we spotted her with Giratina the other night at the restaurant?"

'What were they doing there?'

"I think they were on a date."

Her jaw dropped. 'No way! Tell me all about it!'

* * *

Instead of teleporting, we walked to the restaurant. When Latias changed back to her human form, it hit me: she looked exactly like Bianca from the other night. "Latias?"

'Yeah?'

I started to think. The Lati's could shape shift into any human form they desired, so maybe it was by chance that Latias managed to shape shift into a body that was already in use by someone else? It was chancy, but it looked like that was the most logical answer.

"Never mind."

Dad was in his office, writing checks for the employees. He usually did this on the 20th of every month, but a large incident having to deal with Arceus interrupted the cycle and he had to hold it off until now. He seemed reluctant when I asked him to tell me how it went, so eventually I stopped asking. A few days ago, he told me that if the anniversary party went well, which it did, all of the employees would get a raise on their next check. I wonder what "winning an award" gave them...

He looked up. "Oh hey Molly, and...uh...Latias, is that you?"

'Of course it is.'

"Oh, good." Latias looked at me confused, but I only shrugged back. "Okay, I'm ready. Molly, could you give these out to everyone?"

He handed me a stack of envelopes, and then held Latias's hand and they both disappeared. Just thinking about the raise had me thinking that these envelopes had gotten heavier.

* * *

When we arrived at Mt. Coronet, it was somewhere deep within the mountain. Lanterns lit the pathway hewn from the rock, and at the end of the hallway, I could see a door.

'This pathway leads to Arceus's den,' Latias said. 'Stand on that pressure panel and the door will open.'

"Wait, you're not coming with me?"

'Calvin, I have other things to do,' I shook my head in disbelief. 'I've got to get ready to be Molly's tutor for tomorrow.'

"Tutor?"

'You know, for drawing,' I started to put something together in my head. Latias shaped her human form after an artist I met two days ago and again last night, and she could draw photos out of an environment. There had to have been a connection somehow, but it was childish to investigate over. There were matters much more important to deal with.

'Well, see you later,' She waved me goodbye and teleported back home. I walked down the hallway and looked up to the door. A pressure panel meant for Arceus's weight lay encrusted in the floor. Regretting not bringing the sword along, I jumped up and down on it, but it didn't budge. I looked around for something heavy enough. Nothing but me and the air I was breathing. Knocking didn't hurt.

"Arceus, it's me, Calvin!" I fisted my hand and hit the door. It was hollow. The doors slowly slid open until it was wide enough for me to pass through. Arceus was lying down on the other side of the room.

'Calvin, what are you doing here?' She asked.

"You asked me to come, remember?"

'Oh,' She sighed. 'I hope I'm not disturbing you.'

"I wished you could've asked me that before you went on that rampage last month."

'Calvin, how many times do I have to apologize to you?'

"Well, "laying judgment" doesn't qualify as apology-acceptable."

'I told you already,' She got up, and walked towards me. 'My mind was made up. There was no turning back.'

We both stared at each other for a while.

"So why were you and Giratina at the restaurant the other night?" I asked.

'Oh...' She walked back and lay down. 'Well he was angered just as you are now, but you know him. Always trying to make a deal...'

'He blackmailed you?'

Her face turned red. 'No he didn't! I wanted to go out with him.'

I started to laugh. Even though I was mad, it was still hilarious at her first choice of a date. "What?!"

'He works my last nerve constantly, naïve as always, but he was sincere when he asked me out,' I was on the floor with laughter now. 'I said yes, and so we both got prepared and...there we were.'

"Well, now it's over," I said, getting up. "Now we can all move on with our lives—"

'It's not...officially over.'

I looked at her. "Arceus, you can't be...are you really considering—"

'—going out on another date, yes,' I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

"Okay, I'm going back home."

'Well wait. I didn't tell you why I called.'

"Make it quick, I'm feeling nauseous."

'Late yesterday, I received a call from Rayquaza,' Over the years, telepathy became the new cellular phone for the legendaries. 'He wasn't making any sense at all, said that he was following a dead end lead and was captured by a human. He said to warn Latias before anything else happens, but then his voice faded out before I could find out why.'

"Captured by a human? Just one? That couldn't have been possible..."

'We could be dealing with someone like Mateo,' She said. 'Someone using a similar method of obtaining his power just like he did with mine.'

"I don't want to have to relive that again," I said. "It almost cost her and Molly's lives."

'Then do whatever it takes to ensure Latias's safety,' She tapped her hoof on the ground, opening a portal. On the other side, it looked like the inside of my office. 'And Calvin...are we...are we okay?'

I walked to the portal, and then stopped. "I don't know yet," I said, and walked through.


	4. Ambushed

**This chapter was originally supposed to be labeled as "My Fall", but instead I decided to separate the two and add more to the next chapter, which takes that name. This one however, explains a lot for the next chapter.**

* * *

Even though it wasn't a school day, I still woke up early on Saturday morning. I wanted to learn as much as possible from Latias while the day was young. I packed a few sheets of paper into my bag, along with some pencils, both black and colored, and hoisted it over my shoulder.

"Dad," I walked over to his room. "I'm going to see L—" He wasn't there. He didn't usually work on weekends, I wonder where he went?

I checked around the house. He wasn't out on the terrace, nor was he in the kitchen or the living room. Gallade went to the restaurant to see Danielle, as he always did every weekend, Staraptor was in his favorite spot on the roof, and Millie, Electivire, and Typhlosion were in the living room watching TV. Now that I thought about it, life had gotten really boring for them. I said goodbye and stepped outside. It was a warm sunny morning. Incredibly warm for December; I felt it to be at least sixty degrees. I walked up the stairs to the street and went in the direction of the restaurant. Maybe Danielle knew where Dad was….

I stopped and looked around. That eerie feeling from yesterday had returned. I looked around, but I still couldn't find anyone.

'I know that someone is out here, this can't be coincidence,' I thought.

I looked around for a while but when I didn't find anything, I gave up and continued walking.

* * *

An Infernape, a Dragonair and their owner were perched on the roof a building. They were looking down at a blue-haired girl walking along the street. The girl suddenly stopped, and started to look around for a while. She had sensed their presence, but didn't investigate any further and continued walking.

"That's definitely her," He looked at a description of the girl. "The boss said the blue hair was unavoidable."

The Infernape started to growl. He was eager for battle.

"Not now," He said to him. "You'll get your battle, just be patient. For now, we'll wait until she comes back. She's not going anywhere important."

He continued looking through his binoculars.

* * *

"Danielle?" I pushed the door open. "Oh, there you are. Have you seen dad?"

'No, I haven't seen him for the morning,' She said. 'Isn't he at home?'

"I've checked, but he wasn't there," I said. "Where do you think he went?"

'Well yesterday when he left the restaurant, he said something about running an important errand,' She said. 'I think he said he was going to the park.'

"Running an important errand in the park," I thought for a moment. "I think I might know what it was."

Gallade walked up to Danielle and they started talking incoherently in their own language. Then he said something, and she started to blush. I started to giggle, and they both looked at me.

'What?'

"Nothing, nothing," I said. "Okay I'm going to look for dad, see you later."

So that was it. I left the restaurant and walked back up the street. I didn't understand why dad always went to the park. I told him that the chances of an entrance to the garden ever appearing there again were very slim, yet he still went. When I walked down the street again, I didn't have that feeling that we were being watched anymore. I figured that it was probably just a hallucination. The bracelet pointed me in the direction of an alley just like the day before, and I slipped out of sight and began to check the walls for a trick door. After a few minutes, my hand vanished beyond a part of the wall, and I walked through.

'Oh, there you are Molly,' Latias called. Dad was standing next to her. 'I was beginning to think that you got lost.'

"Very funny," I retorted. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Well, If you should know," We gathered in a circle and sat down in the grass. "Arceus relayed a message to me from Rayquaza. He was captured by a human."

'And the weird thing is that it was just one,' Latias said. 'Just like—'

"—Mateo," I finished. She nodded. "What happened to him?"

"We don't know," Dad said. "But he told Arceus to make sure that Latias was protected. And that's why I'm here."

The sword was strapped to his back. He took it off and laid it on the ground. When I looked closely, there was a small indent on the guard in the shape of a star—like my pendant. I took my necklace in my hand, and then matched their sizes.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

I pointed at my necklace, then at the guard.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Well you see Molly," He held out his hand. I gave him the necklace. "The star that I gave you isn't actually made out of gold. It's only gold-plated."

'Well then what's under the gold?' Latias asked.

He got up, and unsheathed the sword. "When Arceus gave me this sword six years ago, she told me that it needed something more in order to show its true power. For the last six years, I didn't really care much to it, until…."

"Until what?"

"Until that incident last month," He continued. "That's when I found out about the plates."

'Ah,' Latias got up as well. 'The plates, as in the sixteen plates that change Arceus's elemental type?'

"Count the sword in its present normal state, and you've got seventeen elemental blades," He placed the star into the guard. The sword glew brightly for a few seconds, and then went back to its previous state. "Each and every one of those plates can turn Arceus into a fire type, a water type, a dark type, and so on, but if all of those plates were joined together as one, then it would give off….pure energy."

"So….what was the point of giving me the necklace?" I asked.

"Oh, it's definitely your birthday gift," I said. "But I also gave it to you to protect you in case of danger."

"Dad, you know you don't have to worry about that," I grinned.

"A father can never be too sure," He said. "Anyway, a brief demonstration."

He waved the sword, lighting a patch of grass on fire. He waved it again, extinguishing the fire with water.

"Now it's left a mark!"

"Not permanently."

He placed his hand on the patch of burned grass, and it immediately started to flourish again, almost if nothing had happened. I put my hands to my mouth.

'Calvin, that was amazing!' Latias said.

He removed the star from the guard, and gave it back to me. "But it's too much power for me to handle. It requires concentration, which unfortunately…." He looked around. We got a chance to, and amazingly enough, not only did the patch of grass grow back, but it started to sprout flowers, and the same thing started to happen all over the garden. "…can be a little hard to do. Anyway Molly, don't you have an art lesson today?"

"Oh, right!" Dad sat on the ground across from us. I guess he wasn't leaving.

As the day wore on, Latias taught me about various types of art. Abstract, visual, concept, for a time I thought that she was one of my regular teachers. Morning rolled into afternoon, and by that time we both started drawing various parts of the garden. Latias told me to start off with rocks, and then work my way up to cobblestones, then from grass to flowers, and then finally something more complex, like the pokémon that inhabited the garden. I thought of drawing Latias, but then I thought about her size for a moment and decided to work my way up. Dad, out of pure boredom, had fallen asleep in a patch of grass in the shade of a tree. Two Breloom were sleeping next to him. It looked too good of a picture opportunity to pass up.

'Too slow, Molly!' Latias showed me a picture of the three of them. My face turned red.

"You were reading my mind?" She giggled. "That's not fair!"

'Molly, it's not about being fair,' She said. 'It's a matter of quick thinking.'

I gasped. "You're telepathic!"

'Okay Molly, you have dibs on the next scene,' She said, giving me the picture. That seemed fair enough.

We continued drawing for the rest of the day, afternoon turning into evening and the temperature dropping. When it started getting late I woke dad up and we said our goodbyes to Latias. Well, at least until tomorrow anyway. We walked back to the entrance and came back into that same alley from earlier.

"So Molly, how did your art lesson go?" He asked.

"Better than I expected," I said. "I think I might be getting the hang of it now."

"Wow. Fast improvement after one day."

"I know. Hey dad?"

"Hm?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're being…watched?"

"Every time I don't pay a bill," He said. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Yesterday morning on my way to school, and today when I was looking for you, I could've sworn that I was being watched. I looked around, but I couldn't find anything suspicious. But on my way back from the restaurant, I didn't get that feeling anymore. I figured that it was just a hallucination, and I—"

"Wait. You 'figured'?"

"Uh….I guess so, yeah."

"Oh Molly," He groaned. "When the average human 'figures', people around them take it as a suggestion, or…a speculation. When a Winthrop 'figures', it usually leads to disaster."

"Dad, that's just an old family myth," He shook his head.

"I've had my fair dealings with 'figuring' in the past," He said. "Anyway, you said that when you walked towards the restaurant, you got that feeling but on your way back, it vanished?" He turned around and ran back towards the alley. "Whatever it was was waiting for you to come back. You were followed to the garden!"

"What?" I ran after him. "Dad, you can't be serious!"

We ran back into the alley, and into the garden, but when we got there Latias was nowhere to be found.

"Latias!" I called. No response. "Where is she?"

"They must have already taken her," Dad unsheathed the sword. "Not again…"

We walked past the fountain. I could still feel Latias's presence in the garden, but just barely. I mean if she knew it was us, then why didn't she reveal….wait….maybe she was trying to tell us something. "Dad, I think I know—" I turned around to look at him. He wrapped in the body of a Dragonair. "Dad!" I ran back to him, but an Infernape jumped down and stood in front of me. I barely saw it coming, but he hit me on my side with one chop of the hand. It sent a wave of tremendous pain through my body, and I collapsed to the ground.

"Well. This was pathetic."

I looked up. A man at least twenty-five or so, wearing dark clothing stood in front of us. I tried to get up, but the pain was too much.

"You're better off not moving," He said. "He might just kill you. That goes the same for you, Calvin. She can strangle you to death."

"How do you know my name?" He asked.

"I know both of your names," He said. "My commanding officer knows the both of you very well. Especially you, Molly."

"What?"

He chuckled. "I don't have time for your questions. Where is Latias?"

"Why would you think we know where she is?" Dad asked, opting to struggle against the Dragonair anyway. The Dragonair only tightened its wrap on him, and his struggling ceased again. "She's….she's obviously not here."

"Really? Because Molly seems to think otherwise."

Dad's eyes widened.

"Ah, so you do know. You're just trying to be brave." He snapped his finger. The Infernape hit me on my side again, and I doubled over in pain. I gritted my teeth. "I'll ask you one more time, or she may not get so lucky."

"She could be anywhere by now!" Dad yelled. "I don't know where she is!"

"Wrong answer."

He snapped his finger.

'Wait!'

The Infernape didn't hit me, but I could feel his hand on my neck. I opened one eye. Latias had revealed herself.

'I'd rather give myself up than see Molly suffer like this,' She said.

"Good answer," He dug into his pocket, and pulled out a Master Ball, or at least that's what it looked like. From what I could see, it was black on white and had two silver rings looping around it. There was an "M" inscribed on it. Wait a minute….the pokéball, the guy knowing all about me and dad, and the fact that he knew that I would double over in pain with this Infernape's attacks.

"Who…who do you work for?" I asked him. He looked at me and smiled.

"Infernape, make her suffer."

* * *

The Infernape did as it was told. In a form of martial arts no one knew, he started to attack Molly. I continued to struggle against the Dragonair's grip. As tight as it was, I didn't stop trying to get free. I looked at the man, filled with anger now. "You got what you want, leave her out of this!" The man only smirked. He threw the pokéball at Latias. She was captured without struggle. "Latias, no!" The man picked up the pokeball. He called off his Infernape, leaving Molly lying next to a tree, unconscious but still breathing.

"That was easy," He stuffed the pokeball back into his pocket.

'I'm going to regret doing this for the rest of my life,' I thought. I bit into the Dragonair's side. It groaned in pain for a second, and its grip loosened a bit. With enough energy, I body slammed it into the ground, and its grip loosened enough for me to escape. I unsheathed the sword and swung at the guy. He managed to jump back a few feet, but not enough to prevent the tip of the blade from cutting his jacket, and with it, the pocket where the pokéball was concealed. It dropped to the ground. I picked it up and threw it to Molly.

"Molly, free Latias!" She wasn't hurting for very long. Even in her human form, her weaknesses to fighting types prevailed twofold, but thankfully she had the necklace on, and with it, fragments of the Draco and Stone plates, so in actuality she was only dealt a quarter of the damage. She quickly grabbed the pokéball and released Latias, and then crushed it beneath her foot.

"Dad," Molly called. "Remember when you told me about why you gave me this necklace?"

"Yeah."

"You were right."

The two of them rushed to my side. The other three formed a line in front of us.

"You're much more unpredictable than the boss had anticipated you to be, Calvin," He said, unclipping another pokéball from his side.

'This is a dead end battle,' I said to Latias. 'No doubt that's another pokémon in his arsenal.'

'What do we do?'

I looked up, and smirked. The guy did the same too, and then looked back at us.

"You're not very smart, Calvin," He said. "Trying to make an aerial escape."

"Well, I guess you don't really know me then."

"Dragonair. Infernape. Attack them."

They lunged at us. Molly had already been filled in by the looks of it. Latias put both of her paws on our shoulders and teleported away from the garden.

* * *

We arrived in yet another forest once the light from the teleportation dimmed. Dad put his hand to his mouth and looked around.

"Latias, where are we?"

'Johto.'

"Okay, we can get a chance to breathe now," He leant against a tree, and then slid to the ground. Latias and I lay in a patch of grass next to him and waited for him to say something else.

"A man came to Alto Mare looking for Latias, he followed Molly into the garden and now he knows where she lives. And what's worse, he knows who we are too," He said. "But who told him all this stuff?"

'I don't think there's anyone out there who knows you that well,' Latias said. 'You think someone looked us up?'

"There are billions of people on this planet with traits like ours," He said. "There's got to be something else…."

"I know how he knows."

I got up, and walked forward. "I know who his boss is."

"Molly?" Dad called.

I started to cry. "Didn't you ever want to know who kidnapped me from the restaurant nine years ago?"

He came to hold me. As much as it pained me to say his name and all the nightmares I had to endure just to get over it, it didn't make sense anymore to try and hide it from the world. They were already after us.

"Ely….Morgan."

* * *

**And….the story has begun. I honestly must say, this chapter had a lot of possible different outcomes, but in the end, I just stuck to this one. And as mentioned:**

**Seventeen elemental types. Sixteen plates. However, since the Archaic Sword and Arceus are already in a normal state, that adds the extra elemental form, thus bringing it to a round total of seventeen elemental blades for the sword, hence the name of the story. Enjoy reading and please review.**


	5. My Fall

**Happy New Years Everyone! I am really liking how 2010 is going so far. I haven't had time to update over the holidays because I, and some of you, were enjoying it. I hope your New Years Resolution looks great, because it looks like a busier year for me.**

**Back to where things left off: I will continue to try updating normally, but there are no guarantees. Christmas may have passed for us but it's about to start for the Winthrops. Very rocky at that.**

* * *

We spent what was left of Saturday and most of Sunday walking through the forest. As soon as the trees started to thin, we came across the road, and the next few days we walked the rugged path until we came across a diner on the outskirts of a port city that Latias said was named Olivine. We stopped at the diner and Dad got us something to eat and we finally sat down to rest.

"Who is this…Ely Morgan?" He asked. "If…you're willing to talk about him."

I put my fork down. "He's a scientist. He was in charge of the program that experimented on us. Everyone else just referred to him as Dr. Morgan."

'What does he want after all these years?' Latias asked.

"Revenge, maybe. That building that dad saved those teenagers from; he was in charge."

'But….he sent someone after _me_, not you,' She said.

"That's what throws me off," Dad stopped eating and clasped his hands. "It just doesn't make any sense. His goals then and his goals now don't add up. Whereas, Mateo and the guy that tried to capture Latias; their goals were alike. But he was sent out by Morgan."

'What are you thinking, Calvin?'

"This can't _just_ be coincidence," He said. "Rayquaza said that he was captured by one person. That one person couldn't have been the guy we encountered."

"Actually, it could."

They both turned to me.

"That ball he used to capture Latias," I said. "It's not a normal pokéball, and it's twice as powerful as the Master Ball. It captures pokémon against their will and suppresses their energy so that there is hardly any struggle. It's virtually inescapable."

"Latias?"

'She's right,' She said. 'Honestly, I was trying my hardest to escape, but nothing worked."

"Rayquaza didn't even put up a fight." He said.

"So….what do we do?" I asked.

"We can't go back home yet," He said. "It's not safe. I mean we don't even know if that guy has even left yet, or called for backup. We're going to have to rough it for now."

I honestly didn't want to hear that response.

When we finished eating, we walked down the road and into town. I wanted so bad to go to the beach but unfortunately it wasn't a good time for relaxing, so I continued walking. We found a small inn by the seaside and got two rooms. We were all in need of some sleep, and even though it was midday I felt like I could sleep until tomorrow.

'Are you sure it's okay Molly?' Latias asked.

"Yes, we're in a secluded spot, you can transform if you want."

'Okay,' With a quick flash she had returned to her normal form. 'You should get some rest, you look tired.'

"What about you?"

'Ah, I'll be fine,' She said. 'I've had plenty of all-nighters in the past.'

"Okay," I fell back onto the bed and closed my eyes.

* * *

I opened my eyes again. I was lying in the middle of a cobblestone pathway, the midday sun shining bright over me. For some strange reason, I was wearing a white dress now. I got up, and called out for dad and Latias, but there was no visible sign of them. I ran a hand through my hair, and noticed that it had reverted to its original mahogany brown. It had to mean that I was dreaming, so I sighed in relief. I walked along the path for a while until the trees thinned and revealed a cliff. A boy was sitting on the edge, looking up at the sky. From this view, he was wearing a white jacket and matching shorts just like me. His hair, the majority of it tied behind his head with a rubber band, was black and smooth like mine. He finally noticed my presence and looked back.

"Um, hi," I said. White clothes, cobblestone pathway, and now this? There was definitely something special about this boy. For one, he looked my age. "Boy, this is the weirdest dream I've ever had."

I sat down next to him. He continued to stare at me. Looking back at him, he had a very vibrant complexion, almost obnoxious if stared at for too long. He had the most beautiful pair of blue eyes that unfortunately for me, started to remind me of Morgan again. Even the smallest aspects of my life couldn't be enjoyed because of him.

"My name's Molly."

He chuckled. "I know who you are."

"Then who are you?"

"A friend," He said. "Soon enough."

I touched his face. He started to blush. "What?"

"How do you know me?" I asked. "One part of my mind says that you're just my conscience talking to me, but the other says that you're…"

"I'm _real_?"

I sighed. "Yeah…but that can't be right."

"I guess not."

I rolled my eyes and turned away. I only ever did this to Latios, since he used to agree with me on every point. It made me frustrated, but somehow made us better friends. "Thanks for the short conver…" When I turned back, I was still staring into those same blue eyes, but now a new and horribly familiar face formed around them.

"Y-you…"

He ran a hand through my hair. Upon contact, it reverted to its aqua blue color.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

* * *

I jumped out of my sleep. I sat up, and turned on the light on the adjacent nightstand. Latias took advantage of the bed across from me, and was undisturbed from the glow of the light. Heavy sleeper, I guess. I turned the light back off and grabbed my shoes. I needed some fresh air; this wouldn't take long.

I stepped outside. Now that we were further up north and sitting right next to the ocean the climate had changed, and it was freezing outside. I didn't have anything to cover myself up in, so I crossed my arms and started to walk. Streetlights were on and were brightly lit. Most of the lights in the buildings were off; some were on, just for 24-hour convenience. I walked past them, and cut across to the boardwalk. Instead of a regular ray of light from the lighthouse, it sent out a strobe. I had thought that it was only for airplanes, but the docks were full so I guess ships' captains had no problem with it.

"Hey…" There was someone standing out on the beach. "Is that….DAD?" I yelled to him. He turned around, so I guess he recognized my voice.

"Molly?" He called back. "What are you doing up so early in the morning?"

I stepped down onto the beach. The sand was icy cold, even with my shoes on. I walked up to him. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand, so he wasn't really cold.

"That doesn't excuse you either, dad."

"Guess not," He turned back to the ocean. "I couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind."

"Oh, well I had the weirdest dream," I said. "Or rather nightmare…I saw Morgan again."

"That's the first time in years," He looked at me again. "I was afraid this was going to happen."

"What?"

"Being exposed to this guy, or anything that has to do with him," He said. "You know a lot more about him than I do, and any time you think about him it reflects on your past and visualizes in your dreams. Hence the nightmares."

I rubbed my arms. Standing still next to the ocean with no warmth at all was freezing. I could almost feel the cold starting to burn now. Dad looked at me and took off his coat and wrapped it around me.

"Thanks."

He nodded. "I wonder how I'm going to explain this to Danielle when I get back."

"Can't you make something up?"

"No, unfortunately she's psychic," He said. "She sees straight through my lies."

There was that to take into consideration. Almost a week had gone by since we left unannounced and ended up in the situation we were in now. How was I going to explain this to my teachers as well?

"In the meantime, let's head back," He said. "We're both out here, and I don't like the thought of leaving Latias alone."

We walked back up to the street.

* * *

"Okay maybe I was exaggerating when I said we might have to rough it for a while," Dad said over breakfast the next morning. "It's been days, and no one's come looking for us."

'How can you be so sure Calvin?' Latias asked.

"Like this," I thought he was bluffing when he called Mismagius out, but it only made Latias and I jump back at her sudden and unexpected appearance. She hadn't aged like everyone else. She was a ghost, so she lived forever. Dad said that that was a great aspect about her and that it concerned the restaurant and the house, but that's all I heard.

"I called home yesterday and asked Mismagius to scout the area around the garden," He said. "Then I asked her to check the house and the restaurant. She didn't find anyone or anything, so they must've left."

"Or are hiding and are waiting to ambush us when we return," I said.

'Well we're going to have to go home sometime, I mean we can't stay away like this, people are worried about us,' That was true.

I sighed. "Okay, let's go home. To be honest, I _am_ a little homesick."

I stepped outside with everyone else after breakfast. There was heavy overcast today, which probably held for rain later on. We needed a nice, secluded spot to teleport, and since there were no alleyways in this city we had to go back out into the forest and do it there. Latias nudged my shoulder.

"Hm?"

'You know, in the time that we've been traveling, I completely forgot about your tutoring,' She said.

"Oh…it's okay, I'll just make up for it with bookwork," We had a good laugh.

We stopped at the pokémon center. Dad decided to tell Dani from a distance instead of having her kill him up close. She had probably been working nonstop for the last week or so.

"Well…wish me luck," We crossed our fingers as he walked inside. After a few minutes of waiting afterwards, Latias turned to me.

'What do we do in the meantime?' She asked blatantly. I looked at her.

"I think we're expected to wait for…" I looked over her head and down the street, and to my shock, there he was again. The boy from my dream. He was kneeling down next to the side of a moving truck, petting a Bayleef. "That's not possible…"

'What's not possible?' She followed my line of sight and turned around to see what I was staring at. 'The boy…do you know him?'

"No, that's the thing," I said. "But I saw him in a dream I had last night."

'You had a dream about a boy you never saw?' I nodded. 'You know what this means.'

"No…I don't."

'It _means_ that you two are destined to meet!'

I shrugged and we continued our stare. Yep, it was definitely him. He stood up and said something to the Bayleef, and the both of them walked down the street in the opposite direction.

'Do we wait until he comes back?'

"He probably won't be back soon and judging by dad's phone call," I looked through the glass. Dad was staring at Dani absent-mindedly, meaning that he had completely phased her out. "He'll be there for a while. Come on, let's go."

* * *

_An hour later…_

"…and Calvin, I need a few days off," Danielle said.

"I'll write it down."

She narrowed her eyes. "Can I have a raise?"

"Sure, and I'll hand you the deed to the restaurant while I'm at it." She groaned.

"Calvin, when am I going to get reimbursed?" She asked. "It's been really busy now that we're top choice for tourists."

"Danielle, it's the holiday season. Christmas is in two weeks, so why would I give you a vacation now?" She thought about it for a moment, and then started to smile.

"Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you," She picked up a notepad and began to read it. "Your mother called yesterday, she says to tell you that she's coming by this Christmas."

"No problem. Tell her that she's always welcome."

She nodded, and we said our goodbyes and hung up. My mother, Amanda Marcy Winthrop, is basically the backbone of my life. 23 years ago when I became a trainer, she was there at the front door waving me off. Dad was there, and unfortunately we didn't see eye to eye, but he was waving along with her. Many aspects of my life were reminiscent of her, such as my green thumb and the ability to cook to where I am now. She came by, that Christmas six years ago after our battle and gave us something different to think about. I still haven't gotten around to telling her that Danielle was now a Gardevoir because she asks from time to time, but I guess it's easy if I left her on the notion that I fired her…

I pushed the doors open and left the pokémon center. Mismagius was floating up against the wall, eyes closed and apparently asleep and Molly and Latias were nowhere to be found. My heart jumped.

"Mismagius!" I called to her. "Where are the girls?!"

She yawned nonchalantly and looked around, then became as frantic as I was.

"Okay, okay…calm down," I started to pace. "No one's looking for us…the inn's over there, and I'm here…they had to have gone in that direction," I pointed up the street, past a moving truck that was currently being packed. It was such a bad day to start moving, because it looked as if a large storm was coming in. "They couldn't have gone that far. Let's go, Mismagius!"

* * *

"Where did he go?" We followed the boy back into the forest. I guessed he was going for a walk and took the route. But somehow he must've noticed our presence and tried to lose us, and that he did. We looked around for him, but no luck. The sky had grown darker, which meant that rain was definitely on its way. I sighed and gave up. "Okay Latias. It doesn't make sense to keep up this search."

She poked her head out of a nearby tree. She had reverted to her true form to search from the sky, but there were too many trees to get a good view of the ground.

'So are we heading back?'

"Yeah…dad's phone call is probably over by now," I turned around and walked through the trees. "We should get back before he starts to get worried."

I pushed some shrubs aside and walked back out onto the path. Latias followed close behind. "Latias, do you think we were really destined to meet?"

'Well it has to be,' She said. 'He's your age, you saw him in your dream…there's a moving truck outside his house, maybe he's moving to Alto Mare…?'

"That's impossible," Well, if we were destined to meet then maybe we were supposed to stay close to each other. "Y-You really think so?"

'As sure as a…'

There was a pause.

"As sure as a what?" I turned around. "Latias, what is it?"

'I…I don't know…' She was clenching something very tightly in her paw. When she opened it, it looked as if there was some sort of dart stuck in the center, and it was empty. 'Everything's spinning…'

"Latias?" Her eyes closed and she fell into my arms, her sheer weight bringing me to the ground with her. "Latias?! What's wrong?"

"_Can't send a boy to do a man's job…"_

I looked up. Someone was walking towards us. I couldn't see his face from a distance, but as he got closer, I recognized him.

It was Morgan.

"No…unbelievable," He looked at me very closely. "Melinda…I can't forget the hair."

"Stay away from me," I said through gritted teeth.

"No intention of coming any closer," Looks like he learned something after our last encounter nine years ago. He was the only one in the way of my escape, and of all people he was trying to capture me, in one of those inescapable pokeballs. Well he did, but…somehow I escaped. I never knew why or how, but I knew who to take it out on. I scratched up his chest and bit his leg before stopping myself from killing him.

"She won't wake up anytime soon," He said. "That serum happens to be an extra powerful sedative."

I looked around. "You didn't come alone."

"Good eye." At least a dozen other men and women walked through the trees and surrounded us. They picked me up and restrained me, and then surrounded Latias.

"How did you find me?" I just had to know. There was absolutely no way that he knew where we were when we left Alto Mare.

He chuckled and waved another man over. To my surprise, it was the same one who initially attacked us.

"Kill her," He said. "And make it quick this time."

"With pleasure," He released his Infernape. Once he laid his eyes on me, he started snarling. "Go get her."

He didn't hesitate, and started running towards me. Once he gained enough momentum, he landed a sweeping fist on my chest, and sent me rolling back a couple feet. Seconds later, I started gripping my chest out of pain. I think that the hit broke some of my ribs. I grabbed the tree behind me and pulled myself to my feet, and then looked at Morgan. "You're…you're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"It pleases me to see you suffer, but I have other matters to attend," A helicopter's blades could be heard in the distance. Morgan nodded to the guy, and he ordered his Infernape to attack me again.

"Mismagius, Psybeam!"

A rainbow-colored beam shot over my head and hit the Infernape in his face, causing him to stumble backwards. Dad stepped in front of me.

"Molly, you're hurt," He whispered back to me. Then he turned back to Morgan. "That's the second time in the decade that you've hurt my daughter, Morgan."

"My hands are clean," Dad scoffed at that. "I'm done here," The helicopter appeared over the trees, and a rope dropped down, upon which it was attached to a stretcher that Latias was lying on.

"Latias!" He said. "Mismagius, use–" Before he could say it, the Infernape landed a fiery kick on his chest and he was thrown back into a tree. I gritted my teeth.

'I have to do something!' I didn't know this at first, but it was anger that drove me to become my other form. At first, I didn't understand what this meant and Morgan had it beaten into me. Now I had gained enough to officially say that this was enough. In a split second, I transformed into a Tyranitar. Before the Infernape could get a chance to react, I whiplashed him back into his owner and the two were knocked to the ground.

Morgan didn't seem too fazed by this, but Dad was still shocked every time I transformed. Not that size mattered anymore, since I now grew to a point where it no longer looked unbelievable, but this time it was different. I could see anger in his eyes now that he was face to face with the man who did this. "Dad, are you alright?"

"Yeah."

Latias was slowly being reeled up to the helicopter. I had one mind to cut the line, but once again this guy and his Infernape were in my way. He held two pokéballs in his hand. I knew the second one was a Dragonair but what was the third? "Dragonair, help your partner out and take care of this one."

"Molly!" I nodded to him, and he nodded back. He and Mismagius went after Morgan and his people, leaving me with this guy. Two advantages over me would've looked like a dead end battle, but I had something prepared if that was their only plan.

"Make her suffer," He said, and they ran after me.

The Infernape swung up onto a tree branch and then dropped down to try to kick me from the air. I blocked with both arms. When he landed, I spun my tail around again to try and trip him, but he saw it coming and caught it. With unbelievable strength, he picked me up and threw me into a cluster of trees with them being crushed beneath me like toothpicks. I quickly got up, and looked around. The two had disappeared. I looked around cautiously for a while, and then started to walk forward.

I walked for at least an hour, gripping my chest anytime I felt pain. That Infernape really hit me hard. The sky just kept getting darker, and lightning started becoming more and more frequent. These two had just disappeared, as if they were expecting me to let my guard down…even for just a second. I could feel them watching me, taunting me. After a while I finally got tired of it.

"Come on out!" I roared. "You can't expect to keep this up forever!"

Besides the thunder, it was only dead silence. I gritted my teeth. Latias was being taken away and dad was trying his best to defend her, and I was being toyed with in the middle of the forest. I felt so angry at the moment, that when I decided to roar to relieve it, something else happened.

I blinked. A cloud of dust had formed in front of me. When it cleared, a path of trees had been cleared and replaced with burnt remains and rubble, stretching on for at least a mile.

'Don't tell me that that was hyper beam?' A sudden loss of balance and lightheadedness suggested that it was. The next moment I ended up gasping for air.

"Exactly what I wanted you to do!"

A powerful jet of water hit me in the face, causing me to lose balance and fall back onto the ground, and just as I tried to get up, a leg came down on my chest with overwhelming force. This time the star wasn't able to reduce the damage inflicted, and I heard multiple cracks followed by waves of horrendous pain. I roared in agony.

"That's for Dr. Morgan," The Infernape said, smirking.

"Is she suffering?" A voice called. By the time it got closer, I had already figured out that it was their master. "I guess I won't be needing this one," He clipped the last remaining pokéball back onto his belt. "Storm's coming."

The Dragonair followed his master back into the forest. The Infernape, following his master, turned back to look at me.

"It's nothing personal," He said. "But you could use a good shower."

He hit me again, and in a split second, I blacked out. I reawakened hours later, to find that the sky had grown darker, and the winds had picked up. Suddenly, a drop of water landed on my nose. It burned for a bit, but that's small compared to what was going to happen next.

"No…no…please don't rain," Luck wasn't on my side today.

A few drops turned into a drizzle, and soon into a storm. I yelled in pain, but they proved useless against the winds and thunder. Soon it brought on a wave of drowsiness that would soon kill me if I didn't do something. My chest throbbed with pain, but I slowly got up. I fell twice before I finally made it to my feet and started to limp through the forest. My eyes were starting to get heavy. I would have transformed back into human form, but with these injuries I was afraid that it could be lethal, so I had to stay like this. The rain wasn't letting up.

I wasn't going to make it far. The path was at least an hour away, there just wasn't enough time for me to make it there….

Suddenly I heard a yell that caught my attention. I stopped, and looked up. To my right, there was a figure hunched up against a tree, almost as if looking at me. But that was all I saw. Stopping only made me rest and acknowledge the pain from the water, and I collapsed to the ground again. That same figure started to loom over me just as my surroundings blurred and went dark.


	6. My Savior

"_We have to hurry!"_

"_She's not going to make it!"_

After those two voices, sounds started to fade away until it was completely silent. The pain from me breathing ceased, along with every other ache and pain I felt. My breathing slowed and I started to feel relaxed, until I was surrounded by white light. Once I blinked, I was resting in a patch of grass near a somewhat large fountain. I sat up.

That same boy from my dream the other night was leaning against the edge of the fountain, looking at me. I quickly got up, and confronted him. "I saw you!"

He looked confused. "You…what?"

"Don't act innocent, I saw you in Olivine City, earlier today!"

He chuckled. "I must apologize. I didn't expect you to see the form what I was taking on."

"Huh?"

He sat me down at the edge of the fountain. "You see…I took on the form of a person that you would meet later on in the future, but…I didn't expect you to meet so soon."

"So…wait," I got up. "If you took on the form of a person I already met, then who are _you_?"

"That's up to you to find out," He said, getting up. "I doubt you would want to see the real 'me' right now."

"Okay…fine. You have your secrets, and I have mine," I sat back down on the edge of the fountain. "So where am I, anyway?"

His facial expression changed. "You're here because…well, because your spirit and body have separated."

"What does that mean?"

"You fell into a deep state of unconsciousness," He went on. "So deep that none of your vital signs are reading at the hospital you were brought to."

So someone _did_ find me. I was fortunate, but what he was saying now made absolutely no sense. "So what you're trying to say, is that I've…"

"…died, Molly."

I started to panic. "What?!"

"Hold on," He said. "That's why I'm here. I came to prevent this."

He took my hands in his. "It's not your time."

I sighed. "You know, I may not know who you are, but the way you act…you're starting to remind me of an old friend of mine. You probably wouldn't believe who it was."

He smiled again. "Given your condition, you might want to take a deep breath. This is going to hurt."

His eyes flashed a distinct gold. It was too obvious from that point, who this mystery boy was. My surroundings, including him, swirled out of focus, and then it went dark again. For a time, I didn't feel anything. Then out of nowhere, my skin started burning, as if someone had poured a bucked of acid over my head. My chest exploded with pain, and as I tried to scream, no sound came from my mouth. Only loud roars and shrieks. I closed my eyes and tried to brave the pain, but it was too much. I could hear those strange voices from earlier calling new orders. I could hear the excitement in their voices.

My eyelids now felt heavy, but I managed to get them open. My vision was blurred, and there was a bright light looming over my head. What looked like a man then came into my field of vision and started waving a flashlight in my eyes.

"She's responsive," His voice sounded so far away, but vividly heard. "Her vitals are returning to normal. Keep her under constant monitoring."

Most of my vision had returned to normal, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw another figure, pressed up against the glass of the room I was in. That must've been him; the boy we were tagging earlier. The doctor put a mask over my nose and mouth, and surroundings started to swirl again until I fell into a relaxing sleep.

* * *

When I reawakened, some of the lights had been turned off in the room, and it was pitch black outside. My vision had regained focus, and I slowly turned my head from side to side. This room was completely different from the one before, and I was laying on a softer surface now.

"Good morning," Someone whispered. When I looked to my left, it was him again. I wasn't surprised at his appearance now, because wasn't all that new to me anymore. "The doctors said that you have to rest, but I don't want to leave you, so…half of me is scared that you might attack me, but the other half says that you could use the company."

I nodded in appreciation. He smiled.

"Um…I found this when I found you," He pulled my necklace out of his pocket. "It must belong to you."

He placed the necklace next to me. He pulled up a chair, and sat down. "I was walking through the forest earlier, and I had this weird feeling that I was being followed. So, like anyone, I tried to lose them, but by doing so I got lost in the process. So I spent hours trying to find the path again, and then to make things worse it started to rain. Then, right after it really started coming down, I heard these loud roars coming from nearby, and they scared the crap out of me," I started to laugh, but stopped short since it brought on a wave of pain. "Well I started to walk forward and hopefully away from it. The only problem was, it was coming in my direction, until we met. You walked out of the bushes and literally collapsed in front of me. Well, I knew you weren't going to last long in the rain and you looked like you were hurt, so the least I could do was get you some help…only thing was that I couldn't carry you nor could I come back with help, so I had to…I had to capture you."

"What?!" I growled. He jumped up.

"I-I'm sorry! But honestly there was no other way!" Getting mad at him wouldn't help me in the long run, so I sighed and replied with a nod. He sat back down.

"T-The doctors said you had six broken ribs from a powerful attack to the chest," He went on. "Fortunately they fixed most of the damage and you'll be perfectly fine in a few weeks."

I didn't have a few weeks, and as I finally started to think about dad, my heart rate started to rise; I could tell from the nearby EKG. What happened to him and Latias? Was he able to get her back, or was he taken prisoner as well? Knowing Morgan, choice two was most possible. He didn't let people get away with his secrets…at least not easily.

"My name's Matthew, by the way," He said, rubbing my nose. "You should probably rest now."

Just great, more sleep. Fortunately I was still tired, so I yawned and closed my eyes.

* * *

_  
Nine days later…_

I was lying down in this bed for the last few days thinking about where dad was. More than a week had gone by since I had seen him, and I just had to know what happened to him. And today I would finally get my wish. Over the course of the week, Matthew, or as he preferred, Matt, came in with a bundle of Sitrus berries and fed them to me. At first I was a bit embarrassed that he was doing this for me, but in my form it would've been what anyone would've done, so I didn't fuss. How I felt when I was brought here compared to now was totally different; I could move around freely. Now I was healthy enough to be discharged, and that meant that I had to start looking for answers as to where dad was. Before I left the room, I found some clothes. I would definitely need these once I changed back to normal.

"She's free to leave," The doctor said to Matt. Then he turned to me. "You might want to keep away from any serious physical activity until your ribs fully heal."

I don't know why he was telling me this. Given my nature, I wasn't going to live up to it. I followed Matthew out of the pokémon center, and a short distance down the street. Then he turned around and unclipped a pokéball from his belt. I backed up.

"It's okay, it's okay," A red line of light touched my chest. Almost instantly, I started to glow the same color, and right after that I could feel myself starting to shrink. An intense vacuum sucked me down and forward, and a few seconds later I stopped in midair, and everything went dark.

'Note to self,' I thought, shaking off that weird compressed feeling. 'Kill the next person who tries to capture me.'

A few more seconds later, everything started turning a bright blue, and I was thrown out of the pokéball and back onto my feet, on the sidewalk. Matt had released me.

"I can't keep you, you know," He said. "My mom would freak out if she saw you, plus, you belong out in the open."

I could almost see some tears forming in his eyes, if it weren't for the ones in mine.

He rubbed my chest. "Take care of yourself."

I nodded. He gave me a wide smile and walked across the street to that same moving truck. It looked as if it was just about to leave. I have to hand it to him, he had a good heart. If Latias was right and he _was_ moving to Alto Mare, I had to find some way to return the favor.

* * *

I walked back into the forest and found a nice secluded spot. The strangest thing about my transformation was that in order for me to change back to normal, I needed to be fully relaxed. It's very ironic that for a person who tried so hard to ruin people's lives, it was so easy to revert their lives back to normal…well not physically anyway. I guess he knew that and thought that everyone would be too traumatized to ever figure out. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, which was still kind of hard to do. I cleared my thoughts, and concentrated on something nice…like grandma visiting for the holidays. This process was usually painless and lasted a couple of seconds, but just because of the fact that my ribs were healing, it made it unbearably painful. I was a bit afraid that this would happen, but nothing was broken by the time it was over. I re-clothed and tied my hair in a knot behind my head.

"Dad?" I called, walking back out onto the route. "Dad, if you can hear me, give me a sign!"

No response and no sign. This is where we left each other, as I remember. There were still some signs showing a struggle, but most of it had been washed away by the rain. I walked further up the route. The previous battle signs had vanished, and now new ones had appeared. Rocks were thrown everywhere, there were craters in the ground, and as I looked around, I spotted something that made me gasp in horror: the helicopter that Morgan had used to escape; It lay in ruins a few feet away, and there was no one on board.

'Way to go, dad,' I said. 'I never would've expected this from you.'

There were signs that someone had been dragged for a while, and then stopped, and disappeared. They could've been washed away by the rain as well, but these stopped abruptly, and tire tracks continued from there, but still no sign of dad.

"Dad!" I called again. "Can you hear me?"

Not a single sound. I could only hope that wherever he was, he was okay. I sighed and walked back towards town.

* * *

There wasn't much left for me here, but to go home and wait for dad's return. I boarded the ferry bound for Alto Mare. It cast off a few minutes later.

'Knowing Morgan, he must've had a backup vehicle and got away with Latias. Dad had to have followed him,' I did know that Morgan's office was way back in Sinnoh, so there was no way he got all the way to Johto that fast. He had to have been stationed somewhere nearby in order to find us in Alto Mare _and_ in Olivine City. 'Knowing him, he probably went in after Latias. He's been so protective of her over the last few years, it's pretty amazing that he would--' All of a sudden I collided with something, and fell over onto the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" He helped me up.

"No, it's fine, it's--" When I looked up, it was Matthew again. Yep, it was official. We were destined to meet. "Fine…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, now."

"Oh…okay," He started to blush a bit. "Um…my name's Matthew."

I smiled. "Short for Matt, right?"

"Yeah…" He started to look at me very closely. "…have we met?"

"I don't think so," I couldn't understand how he could see me as my other form. "Why?"

"I don't know. It just feels like we've met."

I scoffed. "Tell me about it."


	7. Imprisoned

_Nine days prior…_

Mismagius and I ran into the forest, looking for Molly and Latias. There was no way we could get separated on the eve of our departure.

"Where the hell could they have gone?" I asked aloud. "And why?"

We stopped. I filled my lungs with air, and called out their names. Immediately following that, I heard a muffled scream come from nearby. It sounded like Molly. We ran a little further up the route and around a set of trees just in time to witness Molly being attacked by that same Infernape from a few days ago. He was revving up for another attack.

"Mismagius, Psybeam!"

She shot a rainbow colored beam over Molly's head and hit the Infernape head on. He only stumbled backwards, but now he was very pissed. I stepped in front of Molly in an attempt to protect her from further harm. A quick glance at her, and she was gripping her chest. "Molly, you're hurt," I fisted my hands and turned back around. One guy I recognized, but the other was a face I'd never seen before. But from the way he was dressed, I could tell that he was in charge of this little operation and that this was the guy Molly wasn't too keen on talking about. "That's the second time in the decade that you've hurt my daughter, Morgan."

"My hands are clean," I scoffed. Morgan looked up to an approaching helicopter, which dropped a line down to a group of men and women gathered in a spot looking at something. A closer look revealed that it was Latias.

"Mismagius, use—" Before I could finish the command, A blast of fire hit my chest and I was thrown back into a tree. I landed on my knees and looked up. Molly had transformed and was getting ready to help. But it was different this time. Now that I finally got the chance to look Morgan in the eyes, I became enraged. This man was completely cold-blooded if he could change innocent people into what they were now. I unsheathed the sword.

"Dad, are you okay?" Molly called. She suddenly started to look at me with concern due to the expression on my face.

"Yeah."

Latias was slowly being reeled up onto the helicopter. I had to go after her; I just couldn't live with it if I let these people get away and do something horrible to her. Six years ago Latios asked me to watch over her and I didn't plan to let him down.

"Molly!" I called. She nodded to me, and I nodded back. It was time for us to split up. While she handled that other guy and his pokémon, I went after Morgan.

Morgan's helicopter was starting to gain speed. Simultaneously, the sky had grown darker and flashes of lightning started appearing. Luck was on my side. He wouldn't get far with the impending weather.

* * *

At least an hour down the route, and the winds started picking up. Morgan's helicopter was being tossed around viciously, so they slowed down and I followed from the ground. None of this made sense though. How did he get from Sinnoh, his supposed office, to Alto Mare to Johto so fast? A trip like that would take at least a month or two of planning, not to mention secrecy from the local police. There had to have been another headquarters somewhere in this region.

"Mismagius," I called. "I'm going to need you to bring that helicopter down to the ground," She nodded, and glided up. Within minutes, the helicopter started acting irregularly, and then spiraled to the ground. "Too brash!"

It ducked beneath the trees and landed with a loud crash that shook the earth beneath me. I ran towards it when I heard a loud roar erupt from behind me.

"Molly…" It sounded like she was in pain. I started to look in both directions, trying to see whether she needed help or if Morgan was down for the count. That was too risky of a decision. "Hold on, Molly…I'll be back to help you."

I pushed my way through the trees into a newfound opening, caused by the spinning helicopter blades. Trees were literally sliced in half, debris was everywhere, but nothing had exploded or was on fire. I slowly walked towards the helicopter when a door was kicked out.

"Morgan!" Mismagius reappeared, unharmed by the crash. "It's over. Come on out!"

He stepped out of the helicopter like nothing had happened. Blood was trickling down his forehead, but he seemed unfazed by it. Instead, he brushed himself off and looked up. "Calvin, is it?" He chuckled. "You've just made a big mistake."

"_You_ made the mistake when you kidnapped my daughter!" I held the sword up. "You ruined her life!"

"Think of it as an accomplishment," This guy was trying really hard to piss me off, and it was working. I charged towards him, in an attempt to hit him with the sword. He didn't move a muscle. Instead, he opened his mouth to issue a command. "Stop."

The blade of the sword stopped right before his chest. I wasn't planning to stop, but I hit something. Like a force field or some sort of barrier. The blade was then repelled, and I lost grip on the sword. It spun into a tree and was stuck. I should've seen that coming.

'What the hell?' I looked next to Morgan. The air was a bit distorted. 'A pokémon…it must've saved him from the crash.'

"Push him back."

I was swept off of my feet and thrown through the air, where I hit a tree again. I slid to the ground, and soon after, it started to drizzle. I got back up onto my feet. He obviously had a psychic type with him who chose to stay invisible. Lucky for me I had a ghost type with me. Morgan was about to lose badly. To anticipate Morgan's prediction, I ran over to try and set the sword free. He started to laugh, and then issued an order. These weren't moves; they were more like general commands. I couldn't tell what type of strategy he had. The pokémon darted over to me, fast and swift, but I had already trapped it.

"Mismagius, Shadow Ball!"

"Counter."

The shadow ball stopped, and finally getting the sword free, I saw a glowing set of blue eyes. There was no way he could have stopped that shadow ball. I was once again swept off my feet by a strong wave of psychic power, which hit both me and Mismagius. She was down for the count, and I rolled three times across the ground, dropping the sword again. Morgan laughed.

'There is no way I'm going to lose to him!' I struggled back up to my feet as it started to pour now. I was going to pick up the sword when I heard another roar, in more pain than the first. Molly was suffering from the rain.

"That's my cue, Calvin!" Morgan shouted. "Do you plan to continue fighting me, or let your precious daughter die in the rain?"

"She's smarter than that," I said. "She'll just change back to normal."

"Oh really?" He asked. "Do you honestly think she'll have the energy to do so after a battle like that? Two type advantages and two pokémon with death in their eyes?"

The roaring continued. I turned back in the direction of the roar, unable to choose on continuing with this fight or to help Molly. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, he was right. I clenched my fists and closed my eyes.

"Time's up, Calvin."

I reopened my eyes, and the pokémon he was ordering around finally revealed itself. But before I could get a good look at it, it threw a ball of psychic energy at me, hitting me in the stomach. I was pushed back a few feet, and before I could react, a wave of pain erupted from the hit. I fell to my knees, and something sharp hit me on the back of my neck, and unable to move, I fell to the ground and blacked out.

I jumped up out of my sleep. I expected this all to be a nightmare, and that I was about to reawake in my nice, comfortable bed back home, but I was wrong. Instead I was in a cell, with a door in front of me with one small slot in it, and a camera in the upper right hand corner next to it. I got up off the cot I was resting on, and walked t the door. There was no handle.

"The sword…" Not on my back and nowhere to be found. "Latias…Mismagius…" Both gone too. "And Molly…"

I fisted my hand. "YOU…BASTARD!" I punched the door.

* * *

Latias awoke to the inside of a container, except the walls were transparent and glew slightly. Outside the container was a large cavern. Computers and monitors were set up on tables near the walls and wires criss-crossed their way around the floor. She tried to levitate, but she couldn't concentrate enough to get in the air.

"Calvin?" She called. "Molly? Where are you?"

Growling erupted from behind her. She spun around in fear, only to finally notice that she wasn't alone in the container.

"Rayquaza?" She called to the green dragon. "Hey, wake up!"

She rubbed his nose. He started to smile.

"This isn't funny!" She growled. She fisted her paw and hit him. His eyes shot open, and he looked up.

"Wha—Latias?" He looked around. "Oh…you're awake."

"It's good to see that you're okay," She said. "You first. How did you end up here?"

"Well like usual, I was floating around in the Ozone when I heard some cries for help," He said. "It sounded a lot like your voice. Anyway, when I finally came down to help, you were nowhere to be found. Only this guy with a pokéball. He tried to have a battle with me, and he lost, and yet still he tried to capture me. I was shocked when he did."

"And you couldn't escape?"

"No…how do you know?"

"I was discussing it with Calvin and Molly," She said. "That same guy ambushed us in Alto mare and tried to capture me too, but they set me free."

"Then how did you end up here?"

"Well, we teleported to Johto, and we were planning on going back home when the coast was clear, but we were ambushed again. All I remember was looking down at something stuck in my paw and then blacked out," She started to look around. "Rayquaza….where are we?"

"It looks like the inside of a cave," He said. "Somewhere in Johto…"

The doors across the room clicked open, and five men walked in. Four were wearing matching uniforms, but one stood out.

"That's him," Rayquaza said. "He was with the guy who attacked me."

Latias put it all together. "Morgan."

Morgan looked at the two of them. "I probably shouldn't have put them in the same container."

He pulled a pokéball out of his pocket. A nervous look appeared in Rayquaza's eyes, one that Latias had never seen from him. Without warning, Morgan used the ball to return Rayquaza, and the four men passed harmlessly through the walls of the container. Latias tried her best to fight them off, but in no time they had restrained her.

"It took us a lot more time than you to get Rayquaza to submit to our demands," Morgan said. "Commence."

They stuck a syringe into Latias's neck. She cried out in agony, but it was already over. He released Rayquaza back into the container.

"Sorry about that, but I needed you out of the way," Morgan's men walked out of the container, and followed him to the doors. Rayquaza looked down. Latias was tearing up.

"Latias, are you okay?" He ducked down to her level. "What did they do to you?"

"I…I don't want to talk about it," She wept.

* * *

I heard a roar, and ran to the door and looked through the little slot. Outside the room the walls were cavernous, as if this whole operation were in an underground base or something.

"That was Latias!" I hit at the door a few times, but a human fist against a solid steel door proved worthless. "What the hell are they doing to her?"

I walked around the room and started to think. They captured Rayquaza, and they went to all lengths to capture Latias. For that, it meant that there was something utterly special about her. Okay, but what about Rayquaza? Well they were both dragon types, but that lead me nowhere. But…what about that psychic type I fought…earlier? I had completely lost track of time. The only thing Latias and that pokémon had in common was the signature glow of their energy flow—blue. But again I was at a loss, and now they were torturing her.

"And I'm so damn useless!" I kicked the side of the cot, turning it over. Then I looked up at the camera. First Molly, and now this. "You're just enjoying this, aren't you?!"

* * *

Morgan looked at the screen, his cold, blue eyes filled with excitement as he watched Calvin yell at him through the camera. He smirked.

"You have no idea."


	8. Grandma's Visit

**Five new chapters today. There are five more, bringing it to a total of 17 (I didn't mean for that to happen, it just did :P). I took the liberty of writing the entire thing and its sequel out so that I could update in time for the end of the month. Enjoy reading.**

* * *

"Maybe if I tried to guess your name," Matt continued. "I might know who you are."

"Um…okay. Give it a shot."

We walked up to the front of the boat. There were some tables set up with large umbrellas over them. Me and Matt grabbed a table closest to the railing and sat down. His Bayleef, Cora, never stopped looking at me, making me nervous. Matt was clueless as to who I was, but she already knew me from scent.

"Melanie!" He finally pronounced, his face turning red from guessing. I broke into a laugh.

"Close. Melinda," I said. "You can just call me Molly."

"Okay," He replied. "I'm not sure why, but it was just a strong feeling that I saw you somewhere before."

Kind of weird that he brought it up.

We talked about each other for the remainder of the trip. Matt, although he looked otherwise, was really calm and sweet. He told me that his father died when he was six, about the same time mom died too. Raised by one parent, but unlike me he loved exploring. His father left him a Chikorita he named Cora, now the Bayleef dozing by my leg.

"She's really cute," I said.

"Thanks." He looked down at her. "I've never seen her take to someone this fast, not even me."

"That makes two of us," I said under my breath.

Alto Mare was a couple of minutes away. Matt woke Cora up, and asked me to join him. I couldn't pass up the offer, and I followed. We ran into an older woman along the way who seemed to scold Matt and started calling him by his full name. I could tell that this was his mother.

"Mom I was in the front of the boat!" He said. She turned to me.

"Who's this?"

"This is Molly. I bumped into her earlier and we were just talking," She smirked. "What?"

"Just 'talking'," She said. "That's how they all start, relationships."

Matt looked at me and started to blush insanely. This was one hell of an awkward moment for the two of us.

"So Matt," I started, trying to change the subject. "You're moving to Alto Mare?"

We finally docked, and passengers started leaving the ship. Matt, his mother, Cora and I all walked off of the ship and waited on the dock. The moving truck had to be unloaded. It was safe to say that a moving truck in a city built on water was a bad Idea, but I left it alone. "I'd love to stay, but I have to go to my dad's restaurant."

"Wait. You live here too?" Matt's mother asked. Then she looked at him. "Fancy that."

"Okay Molly," He said through gritted teeth. "It was nice meeting you."

"Same here," I replied, and waved him and his mother goodbye.

* * *

"I'm back," I chanted, pushing the door of the restaurant open. In terms of the season, the restaurant was covered from ceiling to color with Christmas decorations. Well there was something I wouldn't have to explain to my school until next semester. Millie immediately wrapped herself around me, in an 'I was worried about you!' way. It would've been nice if my ribs didn't start hurting again. "Thanks for the hug Millie, but I'm a bit sore!"

She put me down. Dani walked up. 'You're short one Winthrop. Where's your father?'

I quickly remembered his disappearance. "I…"

"I think I can make up for that."

I recognized that voice. I spun around to the reopening restaurant door. "Grandma?" I ran into her arms. It was better if I hugged her first before she got a chance to do the same. She chuckled.

"Wow, you nearly blew me down with that one," She said. "I know it's a little late, but…happy birthday."

"Thank you."

"Look at this," She took my necklace in her hand. "Calvin sure has a taste for gifts, I must say that…unless you have a boyfriend?"

"Of course…of course not!" For a second my mind started to revolve around Matt. Grandma smirked, and looked around.

"You know, I could never find your father when I need him," She mumbled. "For some strange reason he's always running off, busy with some errand. Where is he this time?"

I couldn't have lied even if I really wanted to. "Honestly…I don't know."

Both Dani and Millie eyed me with concern. Grandma sighed. "Knowing Calvin, he's probably running another 'errand'. Don't worry too much though. He'll come running back home once he smells what I'm cooking up for Christmas dinner," I don't know why, but no matter what the situation, no matter how tense the moment was, grandma always brought a smile to each and every one of our faces. Hopefully what she said was true.

Later that afternoon I accompanied grandma back to the house to help clean up. No one bothered decorating the house, so that was our job today. I got some decorations out of the attic and walked back downstairs. I was in need of a Christmas tree.

"Looking for something, Molly?" Grandma asked.

"I need a tree," I said. "Dad says that fake trees are nice, but real ones have more life and make the house smell good."

"Well I think I can help you out with that," She said, picking up the phone. "I have a friend in Johto who can surely find the best Christmas tree for this time of year. I just hope he isn't too busy…"

While grandma called her friend, I went out to look for Staraptor and Typhlosion. He for one, loved cutting down trees for this time of year. I talked him into the idea, and happily, he agreed, taking a deep breath and blew out a fireball. I found his pokeball and returned him, then waited for grandma to give me the location before climbing onto Staraptor's back.

"You look just like your father, at your age," She said. "Now I'll be here cooking. My friend's name is Drew, and he said that you can come by at any time."

"Thanks," I said. ""Come on, Star!"

He took off, in the direction of Johto. I should've gotten my jacket, because it was cold up there.

* * *

Johto was a lot colder than I expected when we arrived a few hours later. Where we were going was high in the mountains, where pine trees grew plentiful. For the first time in my life I spotted some snow; I never saw this before, and I couldn't help myself when we landed.

"Snow angel!" I fell back into the snow. It was freezing, but it just had to be done. I got up. "Look Star! The perfect snow angel!"

He flapped his wings in appreciation. I shivered, since the snow on my back was starting to liquefy. "Time for some warmth," I released Typhlosion from his pokeball, and immediately hugged him. "So warm…that's much better."

He smiled back. Since we reached our destination all we had to do now was look for grandma's friend. Typhlosion cleared a walking path while Staraptor took to the sky again. The snow was falling very lightly, so it wasn't too bad for flight. Grandma's friend was in the mountains chopping down pine trees for the same reason we wanted one: Christmas. I stayed as close as I could to Typhlosion; his flames were a great source of warmth. We walked for some time through the forest until we could hear some people shouting, and some axes cutting at trees. We were drawing near.

"TIMBER!" All of a sudden the tree next to us started to fall over. Typhlosion cut off the tip, the rest falling to the ground and leaving me unharmed, but covering me in a pile of snow. "What was that?"

"Hug me again!" He came close enough for me to hug him just as a few workers walked out into our path.

"Is everyone okay?" One asked. "We couldn't see you through the snowdrift."

"We're alright," I said. "Does anyone know…Drew?"

The workers looked at each other before responding. "This way," We followed them through the trees. Star was still flying overhead, but was having trouble finding us.

"How do you know Drew?" One worker asked.

"Well, I don't, my grandmother does," I said. "I came up here to pick out a Christmas tree."

"I see."

We came to an opening in the forest—or what used to be occupied by pine trees before they were cut down. There was a relatively large cabin built entirely out of log, and there was smoke coming from its chimney, suggesting that there was someone inside.

"He's inside. But I'd better get back to work before he scolds me," He walked off into the forest again. I knocked on the cabin door.

"Hello?" The door opened. A man, in his late fifties, maybe, stepped out to look at me. He started rubbing his hands together in an attempt to keep warm. He looked at me in awe. "My god, you must be cold! Come in!"

Typhlosion and I walked inside, Staraptor eventually following, and he closed the door. A wave of warmth rushed over me as we approached the fireplace, and we sat down in front of it, hands in front of the fire. It was a nice comfortable place, with a long chair on one side, a rocking chair in front of the fireplace, and a bed on the other side. Blankets were packed in a corner of the room.

"Let me guess," He said, sitting in the rocking chair. "Molly, right?"

"Drew?" He nodded. "Oh, okay…are those your workers?"

"You can say that," He said. "I've just finished my shift, as you can see," He was still wearing his work boots, and his coat, hanging on the edge of the rocking chair, was slightly covered in snow. "You're Calvin's daughter, right?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, you remind me of him," He said. "I haven't seen him since he was your age…?"

"17."

"Around that time. So, you've come here in search of a Christmas tree?"

"Yeah."

"…I think I can help you with that."

* * *

We walked into the forest again. There were some other workers walking around, axes over their shoulder, either indulged in conversations or getting ready to start on a new tree. I spotted the perfect tree in a clearing, and pointed Drew towards it. He was getting ready to cut it down for us when Typhlosion insisted, cutting the tree down in no time at all. Wow, he must've been really excited!

"Here you go, Star," In no time, he had picked up the tree and was ready to go. I was afraid that this, including carrying me, would be an incredible amount of weight but he urged me to get on. I thanked Typhlosion and returned him to his pokéball. "Thanks for the tree, Drew."

"It's no problem at all," He said. "Your grandmother would do the same."

I nodded and climbed onto Staraptor's back. I waved goodbye and he flew in the direction of home.

"I can't wait to decorate this thing!"


	9. Breakout!

_Present day…_

Mismagius woke up for the ninth time. She looked around and was still in the same predicament. Apart from her dizziness over the battle, her hat was missing, and she had a collar around her neck that prevented her from going intangible. She was locked in a room by herself.

'Confusion,' She thought. 'I can't think straight.'

She waited until her vision focused, and finally spotted her hat on a table across from where she was, but could not glide over to it because of the collar. She needed something to pry it off.

"Or someone…" She spotted a Growlithe, asleep by the door. "Hey, you," He woke up with the sound of her voice, and stared at her blankly before scoffing.

"Keep quiet," He said.

"Oh…that's a lot of talk coming from you," She said. "Where's your trainer?"

"I don't need one, unlike you," He said.

"Oh?"

"You're nothing without your trainer, and he's nothing without you," He said. "I wouldn't wait one second before scratching his eyes out with my claws."

That gave her an idea. "Really now?"

"Yes," He said, with an evil smile appearing on his face. "Your trainer is weak. That's the reason he hasn't saved you. And the moment I see him…I'll make sure he knows why."

"Touching," Mismagius said. "And they say your kind is loyal…you're just a mutt like all the others."

He got up. "What did you say?"

"You heard me, you're a _mutt_" Mismagius chuckled. "Only a fool can expect you to act so low…Morgan, is it?"

"Don't you dare disrespect Dr. Morgan!" He growled.

"What do you plan to do about it?" She asked. "_Defend_ him? Why doesn't he come down here and defend himself…oh that's right, because he left a mutt to do a man's job."

He howled, finally gathering enough anger to try and kill her. He bit her by the neck and threw her against the wall, before lunging at her, claws extending. Mismagius raised her head to avoid eye contact and he pried his way through her collar, destroying the device. Before he could land a finishing blow, she stopped him.

"My move," She propelled him towards the wall, and he collided hard, eventually sliding to the ground and attempting to get up again. She in turn, used hypnosis, and put him to sleep, and then drained what energy he had left through his dreams. She took a deep breath, and put her hat back on. "Much better."

"What the hell is going on in here?" The door burst open, and two guards came in, attempting to call for backup now that Mismagius was free. She took their radios, and dismantled them before their eyes. "WE HAVE A PRO—" She stopped them before they could finish, putting them to sleep and throwing them back into the room and locking the door.

"Problem?" She finished. "Can't spot it."

* * *

Latias had been moved to a new cell, and she and Rayquaza had been separated again. Five days had passed since she last saw him, but she could hear his roars and shrieks coming from a place she couldn't pinpoint. She curled herself up in a corner and started to whimper, covering her face with her paws.

'I'm next, I know it,' She thought. 'I can't imagine what they're doing to him, but—' She heard another roar, and cringed, now starting to cry. 'Calvin, where are you?'

Lights flickered on. Latias looked up, and she was now in a grand cavern. She turned to look at Morgan, who was standing on a balcony high above her, with some scientists. She started growling.

"Getting mad at me won't help your case," He said, voice echoing through a microphone and throughout the cavern. "You have bigger things to worry about."

A door opened on the other side of the cavern, and some men wheeled out a huge steel box. It started to rattle violently, and eventually what was inside it started prying its way out and when Latias finally saw what was inside, she gasped in horror.

It was Rayquaza…at least that's what she thought. His skin color had changed from emerald green to lifeless gray, and all his markings, which glew yellow at some point, were now glowing blood red. His pupils, unlike all of his discolorations, were blue in compliant with Morgan's eyes. When he spotted Latias, he roared in fury.

"Rayquaza!" She yelled. "What…what have they done to you?"

"Since I couldn't find anyone with the guts to test out his new strength," Morgan continued. "I reminded myself. Why not Latias?"

'You're sick!' She yelled back. 'I would never try to attack him!'

"Good luck, then," He waved his hand. Before Latias could react, Rayquaza whiplashed her with the edge of his tail. Latias flew back, but caught her ground.

"Rayquaza, listen to me!" She cried. "I refuse to attack you! I'm your friend!"

He roared and continued battling.

* * *

I stared at the ceiling all night while lying on my cot. With Molly's fate unknown and Latias's whereabouts up in the air, I was clueless about how I was going to escape this place. Would it have made a difference, is what kept bugging me. I couldn't just leave them behind. Suddenly there was a roar. I sprang up out of my cot and walked to the door. I couldn't see anything from this angle of the hallway. I sighed and paced. I couldn't think of anything that could calm me down until I remembered that mom was visiting. That only made it worse.

I checked my watch. It was Wednesday, and Christmas day was tomorrow. What would she say when I wasn't there to greet her? That Molly wasn't there to greet her? I sat down on the edge of the cot, wondering about these two things, when voices, probably guards standing outside my door, started to panic. There were sounds of a fight.

"What the hell?" I walked to the door again. I could see two bodies lying motionless on the ground before a set of eyes interrupted my field of vision. I jumped back. "Whoa! Mismagius?" I wanted to hug her, but like always, I passed through her, colliding with the hard metal of the door. Nice going, Calvin. "How did you…where have you been?" I asked rubbing my head. "You know what…never mind that, help me get out of here,"

She nodded, and her eyes glew, eventually opening the door. I walked out into the hallway. "We have to get the sword back," She nodded again, and we ran down the hallway, eventually spotting another door. I looked through the slot. There was a lab set up in this room, and two scientists had the sword under what appeared to be a huge scanner, and up on the computer screen, I could see fragments of information popping up. I couldn't let them know about it; it was an easy ticket to finding Arceus…again.

"Mismagius, I need you to—" She was already in the room. When the scientists finally noticed her presence, they tried calling for help, but she threw them to opposite sides of the room, and they fell to the ground, unconscious. The door clicked open, and I quickly picked the sword up from off of the scanner. "What was that all about?"

"I'm very frustrated at the moment," She said. "The quicker we leave from this place, the better."

I heard another roar. It didn't sound like Latias; it was more aggressive, much louder, and every time I heard it now, the floor rumbled, or there was a loud blast. "Could it be…Rayquaza?"

"It makes sense," She said. "Let's find out."

We ran back into the hallway, and just a short distance down, we were approached by that same Dragonair that attacked us back in Alto Mare. I unsheathed the sword and prepared to attack. She stood her ground.

"You're not going to win this one," I said to her. "Get out of the way."

She reached for something, and I was about to attack, but a closer look revealed that pokéball that that guy used to capture Latias in. She threw it at me, and I caught it.

"That's the one my master used to capture the Rayquaza with," She said.

I looked at it, and then crushed it beneath my foot. Then looked back at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"I've opened my eyes," She said. "I've seen the things Dr. Morgan does, and it's about time I chose a side."

It would explain a few things. She didn't strangle me to death back when we were ambushed…and Molly… "What happened to Molly?"

"I don't know," I didn't believe that.

"You were there! How can't you know?"

"I didn't want for this to happen," She said, crying now. "I hit her with a jet of water, just enough to get her to the ground…but that Infernape…be broke her ribs…and we just left her there, to die in the rain…"

Broken ribs…there was no way she could continue battling after a vicious attack like that, but that doesn't mean she would just lay there to die. "Let me tell you something," I raised the sword to her. "If you're lying and something much worse happened to my daughter…you better hope I never see you again."

There was another explosion. She shivered.

"You'd better hurry. That Latias will not be able to continue holding off that Rayquaza."

"What?"

* * *

Latias engulfed herself in an orb. This would hopefully protect her from Rayquaza's attacks, but she was becoming increasingly fatigued trying to, and she had been injured in the process. Rayquaza, in turn, bit down on her orb in an attempt to break her concentration, but she was putting up a very good fight. He threw her against the wall, orb still in place, and hit it with his tail. Latias was trying her hardest to keep the orb up.

"Rayquaza, please, Stop!" She yelled. "You don't want to do this!"

Her pleas weren't getting through to him, because when she looked up, an orb of light had appeared in his mouth. It grew larger and larger, until she recognized the attack as hyper beam. She put as much energy into the orb as she could as he fired his attack, exploding on contact and covering the area in smoke. The intense battle had caused parts of the cavern roof to buckle.

"Sir, we have to leave," A scientist said to Morgan. "The constant and sudden vibrations of this battle are destabilizing the mountain's infrastructure. We will be under piles of rock in a few minutes."

"It's time to leave then, gentlemen," He said. "Pack up. We're heading back to Sinnoh. Our work is done."

The dust cleared. Latias's orb had failed; she was lying on the ground, beaten and barely conscious. Rayquaza was recovering after his hyper beam, but was ready for another order. Morgan smirked.

"I hate to leave on such short notice, Latias," Morgan called. "But farewell for now. Rayquaza, finish her off."

Rayquaza, now recovered, prepared for another hyper beam. Latias, tears flowing through her eyes, was too beaten to dodge, and only looked up into an inevitable fate. She then covered her eyes as he fired his attack. Everything slowed down. She looked again, and to her shock, she saw what appeared to be a dark figure, in the shape of an eon dragon.

'L-Latios?'

'_It's not your time yet, Latias.'_

There was an explosion, but nothing happened to her. When she looked up, the figure had disappeared with the light, and was replaced by a human.

"Calvin? Is…is that you…?"

"Yes," He said weakly, having blocked the hyper beam with the Archaic Sword. "Are you alright?"

"I…" Having seen enough, she lost consciousness.

* * *

Latias fell unconscious. I ran to her side, but she was out cold. I gritted my teeth.

"Morgan…" He tried to walk off the balcony he was standing on, and as I tried to run after him, Rayquaza whiplashed me with the edge of his tail, sending me flying across the room. I barely caught my ground and dealt with the pain, and gazed at the discolored dragon. There was nothing but blood in his cold blue eyes. He lunged towards me.

"Mismagius, psybeam!"

She fired her attack at him, hitting him directly in the eyes and causing him to hit the wall above us. He cried out, trying to restore his vision. I spotted some cables in a corner of the room. Hopefully they were electrical, and the shock would paralyze him. "Again, Mismagius!"

He fired at his chest, pushing him back more.

"Again!"

She fired again, pushing him back until he was directly over the cables. I ran up his snake-like body, until I got on top of his head, and then fell back. My weight was just enough to knock him off balance and he fell to the ground; one of his horns puncturing the cables, sending an electric current up and through his body. I jumped off before I could be affected. Slowly, his colors started to revert to normal, and he fell unconscious, and everything went quiet. I looked back to the balcony. Morgan had disappeared.

"Damn it!" He got away…again. Fortunately he wouldn't get away with any of the information he had recovered from the sword, so Arceus was safe for the moment. Rayquaza roared again and I armed myself, but this time it was a roar in pain. I took a deep breath.

"Calvin!" He looked at me. "Are you alright?"

"Are _you_ serious?" I looked at him. "You just tried to kill me and Latias and you're asking me if I'm alright?"

"Latias!" He immediately got up and flew over to her body. "Latias…is she—"

"She's alive," I said. "But you…what the hell is wrong with you?"

"It wasn't me, I swear!" He said. "I tried to stop myself from doing it, but I couldn't…" He held his head. "These voices were in my head…it was like they were controlling my every move…"

"What makes you think I'll believe that?" I asked him.

"I would never hurt Latias, never," He picked her up. "She's the only friend I've got…"

It must've taken some courage to say that out loud, because he meant every word. And as I started to think it over, he had no control over his body and he attacked the ones he knew was closest to him. I looked at Mismagius.

"This song has already been sung, Calvin."

"Not mind control again," The skin discoloration I witnessed must've been some kind of side effect.

The ground started to rumble again, and it was soon followed up with falling rocks. Rayquaza shielded us with his body. "This place is coming down! We have to get out of here!"

"Rayquaza, were you conscious when they brought you here?" He nodded, and we climbed onto his back while he carefully hoisted Latias up to safety. "Lead the way!"

He took off, back down the hallway, as the ceiling above us finally gave way. He darted around the tight corners until we came to an opening. It was so good to see light again. We exited the tunnel, with the entrance collapsing behind us and sealing the mountain off again.

"Do you think he got away?" Rayquaza asked.

"I don't care," I said. "We need to get Latias home, and fast."

It was a decision I had a hard time making. Molly was out there, somewhere, and unless she miraculously found a way to get some help for her injuries, the rain would've dealt its toll. I turned my view to the sky, not looking back, and Rayquaza took off in the direction of Alto Mare.


	10. A Hell Of A Day

**There were many ideas for this entire story. In the first, I actually thought Calvin would've been better off dead, but then it occured to me that noone kills the hero (I'll appreciate your opinion if you think otherwise). Seventeen Blades spawned from his death, and the entire story was supposed to revolve around it, but I rewrote it before I published it, keeping him alive. Instead of completely deleting the original version, I merged it with the current version, and now parts of it make up this story. Besides, everyone deserves to have a good Christmas.**

* * *

Typhlosion handed me the tree star. I climbed up the ladder, and reached over to place it on the tree. This was a triangular ladder, so by the time the ladder topped out, the tree, being triangular in shape as well, was about two feet away. "Almost…" I pushed the star out to the edge of my fingers as it finally caught hold of the tree, and slipped into place. "Finally, I—AAH!" I slipped off of the ladder, and fell into Typhlosion's arms.

"Great catch," I said to him. He put me down and I went to plug in the tree. Finally, the entire house was decorated. Grandma came out of the kitchen and looked around.

"Great job, Molly," She said.

"Thanks," She took the easier job by cooking all of the food, but it was still a conjoined effort. I could smell the sweet aromas of the food coming from the kitchen, and I couldn't wait to start eating, but unfortunately the food was cooked in preparation for Christmas Night's dinner. My stomach growled. "Grandma…can't I just start eating _now_?"

"No. You can't eat this food until tomorrow night. Hopefully your father will be at the table."

I groaned. Dad's whereabouts were unknown and I was hungry. What would she say at the dinner tonight if he didn't show up? She'd start to ask and I'd have no other choice but to tell her what happened.

"Fine," I pouted, grabbing my coat and walking outside.

It was late in the afternoon on this Christmas Eve. The boardwalk was very quiet. Lights from other houses filtered down to the water's surface. I greeted some passer-bys until I thought I spotted something familiar. "Is that…Matt?" I walked down the boardwalk until I came up behind him. He was looking up and down the canal, fascinated by his new home. I tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, Matt."

"Molly?" He turned around. "How did you find me?"

"Well, my house is right down the way," I pointed back. "You're lost, aren't you?"

"Um, no, this is my house, right here," Come to think of it, I could see boxes through the window and his mother was walking around, getting settled in. "I guess that makes us neighbors."

I nodded. "You want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," He went to tell his mother that he was leaving and walked with me up the canal. "So, Molly, how long have you lived here?"

"All my life," I thought of something. "Why?"

"Well I was hoping that—"

"I could show you around?" We said in unison. I smiled. "Sure, I don't mind."

"Great! Where to first?"

"The park."

We walked back up the boardwalk until we got to the street, and took the street all the way to the park. Upon entry, it started to snow, and for the second time I got to witness it in action. Matt looked at me curiously.

"You've never seen snow before?"

"Well, yesterday, when I went for a Christmas tree, but no," I said. "It doesn't snow in Alto Mare."

He sighed in relief. "I guess it means I don't have to shovel."

I turned to him and laughed. The snow was such a beautiful sight at night, and when I looked up there were a million more snowflakes coming down. I spotted what looked like a green streak flying through the air, but the snow was impending. I looked around, but couldn't find it again, and gave up. I looked at Matt again. There was already a thin layer of snow on his jet black hair.

"Come on," I said. "You'll be amazed at how big this park really is."

We continued down the path.

* * *

I woke up early the next morning. I looked out the window. It was still snowing.

"What?" I pushed the blinds aside and looked outside. Apart from the heavy overcast, snow had built up on the roofs and balconies of the houses across the canal by at least a few inches. Down below in the canal, the water had frozen over, and I could see people skating on the ice. "These people make the best out of any weather."

"Mil?" Millie joined me at the window. She looked like she wanted to show me something. I put on my slippers and followed her downstairs to the living room. I saw dad lying under the Christmas tree, fast asleep. I shrieked and he woke up.

"Molly!" We both hugged for a while. "Oh, I was so worried about you…"

"Me too," I looked at him. "What happened?"

"I went chasing after Morgan, but it lead me to a trap," He sat down on the sofa. "We were imprisoned for nine days before we escaped."

"We?"

"Me, Mismagius," She was sleeping around the other side of the tree. "Rayquaza and Latias."

"Are you all okay?" I sat down next to him. "Morgan didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"Kind of," He said. "Come on, get dressed. I'll explain when we get there."

"Okay," I ran back upstairs and put on the heaviest clothing I could find. I then went back downstairs and joined dad outside. It was freezing.

* * *

I trudged through the snow in the garden upon entry. It was so beautiful with the snow. The fountain had frozen over, capturing the water in place, making it look like an ice sculpture. The soul dew wasn't there. Dad told me that Latias had taken it with her to keep it warm. I followed him through the trees, deeper into the garden, until we came up to a rock formation. On the inside, was a cave entrance which eventually led to a small cavern where Rayquaza and Latias were staying. He looked up.

"It's just us," Dad said. "Molly…"

He pointed me over to Latias, who, when I took a good look at her, had suffered some serious injuries. She looked like she was still crying.

"Latias!" I ran up to her. "Are you alright?"

'No,' She wept. 'But I'm glad you came.'

"Hold on, I know what can help," This was a time where my extensive knowledge of berries came in handy. I taught myself, because when I was younger and on my own, I had to find some way to heal the injuries I had been dealt from constant sparring matches. I ran back out of the cave, and looked around for the right berries. Luckily they weren't frozen yet from the weather. I picked off a bundle of berries and returned to the cave.

"How did this happen?" Rayquaza put his head down in a guilty manner as I fed the berries to Latias and dad got ready to explain.

"Morgan somehow put Rayquaza under his control," He sat down on the edge of a rock. "It has a visual side effect this time, by distorting the skin and eye color. Once that was done, he used him to spar with Latias, and as you can see," Dad sighed. "It was costly."

"He got away, didn't he?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm sorry, Molly," I said. "But I couldn't stop him without stopping Rayquaza first."

I opted to feed another berry to Latias, but she refused to eat. Rayquaza inhaled deeply, wrapping his tail around the two of us to keep us warm. He groaned, but it looked like dad understood what he said.

"What do you mean that's not all?" I turned around.

He growled for a moment. Latias looked up, apparently hearing something she remembered. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand them in my human form. "What's going on…?"

Latias filled me in. She told me that Morgan had taken blood samples from her and Rayquaza, and they both showed me the puncture marks. That was weird. What would Morgan want with that? I tried feeding her another berry, but she refused again, emitting such psychic energy that it could be physically felt.

"Latias…" I put my hand on her head. I knew exactly how she felt. Suddenly my hand started to glow and I froze.

* * *

I blinked. It was a warm, sunny afternoon in the garden, and I was wearing my winter clothes, but I didn't feel like I was being affected by the weather. Latias was levitating just a few feet away, and was looking around as if expecting something to happen. Some time passed, and she started to look a little irritated. I giggled.

'How did I end up here?' Her ears twitched, and she flew off, further into the garden. I followed, but she was fast, and with all these clothes on, it was hard to keep up "Latias, slow down!" A shadow raced over my head. I looked up, and was shocked at who eventually tackled her to the ground. "Is that…"

I caught up with the two. When the dust cleared I heard some laughter, and the two were staring cloudless sky.

"What took you so long?" She asked her brother. I was more amazed that I could understand them now.

"You let your guard down," He replied, grinning. "You're easier to catch when you don't expect me coming."

"Humph!" She pouted. I sat on the ground next to them. I tried getting their attention, but it looked as if they couldn't see me. This had to have been one of Latias's memories from before I met her, but how and why was I having it? Latias continued to stare at the sky, and sighed. "Latios…do you think we'll always be together?"

"We live forever," He said. "You know that we will."

"No, I mean together, as in…never separated?" He looked at her. "What if…in the future…"

"No, it will never happen," He got up, bringing her up with him. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you."

I felt a tear roll down my face. I felt the pain as I thought about it. Latios wouldn't fulfill that, even as much as he wanted to think otherwise.

"Now come on," He spread his arms and she smiled, hugging him. "Better?"

"A lot!" She developed an evil smile. "Now it's time for me to catch you!"

She tried catching him, but he slipped out of her grip and out of reach. She chased after him, leaving me standing there. So peaceful and innocent…I wished I could've told them what lay ahead. I blinked again, returning to the cavern. Latias looked up at me, now with more tears rolling down her face. I gasped.

"Latias!" I hugged her as she started to cry. "Latias…I-I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to…"

'How did you?' She looked at me. I had never felt a surge like that before, nor could I read people's thoughts. I wasn't a psychic, but it all pieced together once I looked at the star. It was glowing at its center. Dad said he made it out of the elemental plates, so maybe it temporarily gave me psychic powers.

"What happened?" Dad asked, walking over. I turned back to Latias.

"Latias, I'm going to try something, bear with me," She nodded, and I placed my hand on her head again, and started to concentrate. Eventually I could feel energy flowing through my arm from the star to Latias's body. It was overwhelming, and I struggled to keep up the concentration, but I broke it off, holding my head and squinting. Dad came to hold me.

"Molly, what's going on?"

"Latias…did it work?" I asked her, opening my eyes. My vision was a bit blurred, so I couldn't see her all that well.

'You could say that,' Her voice was filled with joy.

"Okay, can someone fill me in?" My vision regained focus, and I looked up. Latias was partially healed, but she did the rest herself. I turned back to dad. "How did Latias heal so fast?"

"I think there's more to this star than just the plates it was made out of."

* * *

We spent the rest of the afternoon explaining how I survived my predicament, eventually telling him about Matt. Then, that evening when we got back home grandma finally got a chance to look at dad and scolded him for worrying us all. Speaking of which, the dinner table was very full this evening. Rayquaza, or as dad described him to grandma, "Ray", had a human form, and he and Latias joined for dinner. Danielle and Gallade closed the restaurant for the day and came to join us. Grandma, having finally given in to all my pleas, opened up the food cooked from the night before.

"Calvin, you never told me," She said. "Why did you fire that employee of yours? Danielle, was it?" He tried to get her from finishing the sentence, but it was already too late. Dani looked shocked.

'You told her that you fired me?'

"W-what I meant to say," He tried to ignore her, but her glare was unavoidable. "Is that as I fired her…she quit."

"You know why?" Grandma asked. "You didn't mistreat her, did you?"

He cleared his throat. "Well…"

Grandma gasped. "Calvin Augustine Winthrop, I did not raise you to disrespect."

My mouth dropped to the floor. So did everyone else at the table. Latias immediately broke into laughter, which meant that grandma's vibe was slowly starting to help her get over what had happened before.

"Augustine?" I laughed. I honestly thought that dad didn't have a middle name.

"Well since we're throwing middle names around, Carolyn," I stopped laughing. "No, mom, I did not mistreat her, she found a better job in Goldenrod City, so she said."

She nodded, and the table went quiet. I saw someone standing outside and decided to excuse myself before the moment became awkward. It was Matt again. He was bundled up for the weather. "Hi, Matt."

"Oh, hi Molly, merry Christmas," I replied with the same greeting. "I just came back from the store, but even that's confusing…"

I giggled "Well I found out that my dad's middle name is Augustine," We both laughed again. "Say, I know this is a bit too much but…are you busy?"

"Not really, we're all moved in."

I nodded. "Do you mind joining us for dinner? My dad would love to know get to know you."

"Really?" I nodded. "I'd love to."

"Okay then," He followed me back inside. I caught a look from Latias and responded with a nod. Destiny was looking real good right now.


	11. Cornelia

I walked into the Hall of Origin the next afternoon. "Arceus, I'd need to speak with—" The hall was empty. This was a meeting day, where was everyone? "Did I miss out on something?" I walked around. No, I was completely alone. There must've been some sort of a memo passed around in my absence.

"They'll hate me for this, but whatever," I struck the sword into the ground in front of the table. Almost immediately, portals started to open at the sides of the table, and legendaries stepped through. They were expecting to see Arceus at the semi-podium, but I tend to disappoint a lot of people.

"Calvin?" It was very overwhelming to stand at the head of a table and yet turn out to be the smallest person in the room. "What do you want?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed," I retorted. "Today is a meeting day…where's Arceus?"

"We haven't seen her for the last three sessions," Since I summoned everyone, let's see who I could mark absent. No Arceus, and no Giratina—yep, that explains it. Lugia was also missing, but he was gone long before I left.

'No Arceus…no Giratina…' I thought over. "That leaves me in charge."

Many of the legendaries groaned disdainfully, some laughed, knowing that I didn't have much power over them. I cleared my throat, and revved up for an announcement. I did this all the time with my employees, so I could compare. "You guys have the rest of the day off," Now the mood changed, most of them in shock or had gasped from shock. "You heard me. Enjoy your day off…bye."

I struck the sword into the ground again, re-opening their individual portals. They happily walked through, leaving only a handful of legendaries in the hall who could find their own ways home. Mesprit was one of them.

"Mesprit!" We hadn't spoken in a while, so it was heartwarming to see her. "How have you been?"

"Hi, Calvin!" She said, greeting me. "It's been quiet these last few months. Oh! Is it too late to tell Molly happy birthday?"

"I'm afraid so," She looked a bit sad. "But it's alright, I'll send her your regards."

"Thanks," She said. "So, have you heard the big news?"

"About what, exactly?"

"So you haven't heard…" She went on. "Okay then, get ready…Lugia has a daughter!"

"What! That's…that's amazing!" That would explain his absence. "Wow…what's her name?"

"Cornelia, she's three months old," She said. "He says he needs some advice from someone who's raised a daughter already."

"…me?" She nodded. "Wow, that's great and all, but from me? I'd be honored to."

"Alright then," She said. "I'll come by this evening. You should probably get a boat."

"Right…" My next door neighbor owned a boat. I could ask him if we could borrow it for the day. "See you later."

* * *

I returned to the restaurant later that afternoon to take over the shift. I stood behind the counter for an hour, taking individual customers' orders and placing them at tables. Molly entered and walked up to the counter. "So how did it go?"

"She wasn't there," I said. "Probably on a date somewhere."

Molly shivered. "That's so wrong on so many levels."

"Anyway," I gave a customer his change and receipt. I waved Molly behind the counter, and we both walked into the storage room, to look for some onions. "While I was there, I did manage to find out that Lugia has a daughter now."

"That's great!" Molly shrieked. "Tell me about her!"

"Her name's Cornelia, and she's three months old," I said. "Lugia asked me for some advice, and I'm going to see him."

"I think I'm going to call her Connie," Going to? She looked at my facial expression "…I mean if I come along…right?"

"Molly, this isn't a family vacation," I said. "Plus…I don't even know where we're going."

"Hey! I'm involved in this too!" She said. "You can't win this one, dad!"

"What the—" She stormed out the room. Come to think of it, I haven't won any of the arguments against Molly since before Mateo's battle. "I'm losing my touch…"

I walked back to the kitchen. "Here are your onions."

I dropped them on a table. Danielle looked at me with interest.

'You lost another argument, didn't you?'

I chuckled. "You're in charge for the rest of the day."

Following a quick visit to my neighbor, asking him if I could borrow his boat for the day, I went back to my house to get prepared. I never went to visit the legendaries, nor did they come to visit me, but I did know that Lugia lived somewhere in Johto, in an underwater cavern. You would think that that would be the best place for his daughter, right? Speaking of daughters…Molly wasn't here.

"Spreading the news, I bet," Latias wasn't at the hall when I summoned everyone, so she must've gone to see her. "Well, it's not like she doesn't deserve to know."

I walked into my bedroom and got some things, put them in a little bag, and took a deep breath. "Hmm…a nap wouldn't hurt," I knew that if we were going to some underwater cavern, I wasn't going to get any sleep at all, so I changed and fell back into my bed. I hadn't had one of these in a while. "Now for some rest…" I closed my eyes and went to sleep. I should've set my alarm clock…

"_We could leave him…"_

"_Are you kidding? He'd ground me for a year."_

I took the pillow and covered my ears. It was as if someone was standing directly over my head and trying their hardest to annoy me with their conversation.

"_Maybe we should leave him,"_ That sounded like Molly's voice.

"No way I could've—" I jumped up, and read the clock. It was 10:30 at night. I could've sworn that that was only five minutes. I guess I really needed one of these naps.

I quickly got redressed, grabbed my bag and threw it over my back. I accidentally tripped over Millie, who woke up and wanted to know where I was going. It would've been hard trying to explain this to her, so I decided to bring her along. Then we ran downstairs to join Mesprit, Molly, and Latias at the door.

"Thanks for waking me up," I said. "Latias…what are you doing here?"

'I'm coming along too!' What started as a group of two now increased to the five of us. I rubbed my head, and picked the Archaic Sword up off of its stand.

* * *

We made it down to the docks and found my neighbor's boat. It was a nice medium-sized vessel meant to hold a group of people. I untied the boat from the dock and jumped down into it, Molly shortly following, and started it up. How hard was it to drive a boat?

"Okay," I slowly backed out of the dock. From there, it was just open sea. Latias took to the sky and Millie took to the water while Mesprit joined me and Molly at the wheel. "Mesprit, where is this underwater cavern?"

"Cavern?" She asked, confused. "We're not going to a cavern."

I took my hands off the wheel and looked at her. "What?"

"Lugia didn't want his daughter to be born in a cavern," She said. "He was thinking of a place better suited for her, obviously underwater and out of plain sight, so he chose the Samiya."

"What's the…Samiya?"

"It's an underwater temple," She continued, and I returned to the wheel. "I visit sometimes to see Manaphy. She's the one who agreed to Cornelia being born there."

I don't have much information on Manaphy yet, since I only barely spotted her at some of the meetings that concerned the sea, but she sounded very peaceful and considerate to offer her home to Cornelia's birth. Really, it's a special thing.

"Okay Mesprit, lead the way," She nodded, pointed eastward, and I altered course.

We continued on for the next two hours; night slowly drifting into morning and spotting the first bit of sunrise. Millie jumped out of the water just to look at it. I should've brought along a camera, because these were fascinating views.

"We're here."

"We are?" I stopped the boat, and looked around "Are you sure? We're in the middle of nowhere."

"Look underwater," I woke Molly up and called Millie in, and asked her to scout around for this great underwater temple. She dove for a few minutes, and then came back up, looking very excited.

"Underwater…wait, Mesprit," I called. "Does this mean we have to dive down under?"

"To get there, yes," If I had known this, I would've rented some underwater suits from the fishing store across the street from the restaurant. I dropped anchor and stood by the edge of the boat. I tightened the straps on my bag and the sword, and looked down at the water.

"I really wish we could've teleported."

Since Latias hadn't been there before and Mesprit couldn't carry all of us, I dove into the water. It was bitter cold from the weather, and even wrapping myself up in my coat didn't help. Molly followed, soon grabbing a hold of me for warmth. Millie came over to ferry us down, with Latias and Mesprit soon following.

'Whoa…' The Samiya was an _ancient_ underwater temple. Many people would've considered the temple to be an ancient Greek palace, but its aquatic culture said otherwise. It brought together both worlds, from both the surface world and the sea. The temple was covered in a spherical veil, which when we entered, turned out to be one giant bubble. Millie climbed up out of the water, and we got up.

"Look at this place!" I walked around. There were fountains lining the entrance, made out of sculptures of large water pokémon, including a Milotic, which Millie took notice to. "How come I've never heard of this place?"

"It's always on the move," Mesprit said. "The current pulls this temple endlessly around the world, so it is hard to pinpoint."

"Oh, wow…" I scratched my head. "Where's Manaphy?"

"I'm not sure. It always takes me a while to find her."

"Okay, then here's what we do," We gathered in a group. "Since you're the only one who's been here, you'll lead the way. First, we have to find Manaphy. Then we work out finding Lugia and Cornelia. Hopefully they're all in the same place."

We all agreed, and walked along the corridor directly ahead of us. The corridor itself was lined with elegant stone arches on each side, spanning over and across to the windows. I looked out of them. The morning sun was starting to bring light down into the temple, and as Mesprit stated, we were moving, slowly through the water. I could see water pokémon swimming by.

"Oh no, the boat," I couldn't spot it, nor the anchor line. "Mesprit, shouldn't I have done something with the—guys?" The entire group had vanished. I spotted a hallway on the adjacent wall and ran into it, but I ended up at a forked path. Quickly choosing the hall to the left, I came out into another corridor. Now I was completely lost.

"Great," I continued walking. "Well, I'll catch up to them sooner or later. This place can't be that big."

* * *

"He was right here," We searched around for dad, but eventually came to a forked path. We chose the hall to the right, which led down a set of stairs into a massive pool. There were tunnels spewing water out in every direction, and before I could turn around to head back, I spotted something silver, lying in a patch of grass across from us. "Wait, is that…Cornelia?"

I walked over to her. Yes, it had to be her. She was laying by the water, swirling the tip of her wing around in it. She looked miserable, and I started to wonder where her father was. She spotted me, and looked up.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm a friend," She didn't seem too afraid. Instead, she looked curious, probably because she hadn't seen a human yet. I knelt down next to her. "See?"

She smiled and hugged me.

'Friends already!' Latias said.

'Tell you what,' Mesprit added on. 'We'll look for your dad, Molly. You can stay here with her if you like.'

"I will," Mesprit and Latias went back to the entrance leaving me and Millie with Cornelia. "I guess I get to call you Connie now, right?"

She liked her nickname. I felt the water she continued swirling her wing in. It was incredibly warm, and I couldn't resist going for a swim. Millie took the first dive while I changed into my bathing suit—a little something I put on just in case we ever stopped for a break.

"Care to join me, Connie?" She backed up away from the water. "What? No?" She shook her head. "I'll have to show you what you're missing out on!" I jumped into the water. Where it was coming from started to interest me, and I looked up to one of the tunnels, then turned to Millie. "You think that could be a slide?"

* * *

"This place is amazing," Completely forgetting that I was lost, I walked through the corridors of this magnificent temple. The people who built this temple, like the ones who did Alto Mare, really had respect for the environment they worked in. Alto Mare was built on water. This one was built in it. "Now I really wish I had a camera!"

I heard a soft voice. I looked around until I found the source of the voice, spotting Manaphy looking at me, from down the hallway. "Manaphy! Finally I found you," She looked scared all of a sudden. Wait, that's right…She never met me. "Manaphy, I'm a friend. My name's—"

"Manaa!" She cried, emitting a wave of psychic energy. It brushed past me, and the next moment a wave of water came crashing down the corridor. I tried jumping out of the way, but it caught my foot and I was swept up, and spun around before I landed on the floor. I got back up. "Manaa!"

"Wait, I'm not an—" I held my head and looked up. A Crawdaunt and an Empoleon were getting ready to attack me. "Oh come on!" I ran down the hall in the opposite direction.

* * *

I landed in the pool of water, and opened my eyes. Millie looked back at me and smiled. I rubbed her forehead.

'This isn't a visit, this is a vacation!' I pointed up, and she carried me to the surface to where Cornelia was. She looked at the water with interest, but did not join us.

"Come on, Connie," I said. "The water's great!"

She whined and lay her head down on the ground.

"Scared?" I climbed out of the water and sat next to her. "It's okay, really…I know I can't stand it sometimes."

She looked at me, confused.

"But it's a really cool experience, especially for you…you'll love it, I promise."

She looked at the water for a moment, and then looked back at me, then she dipped her nose into the water, and before I knew it, she jumped in, splashing me with water. I laughed, and jumped back in. She swam further into the pool. Millie and I followed. Dad and the others were missing out on this.

* * *

"I can't believe I have to put up with this crap!" I panted.

I ran down the endless corridors of the Samiya, hoping to find the others and this whole situation would be explained. They must've been trying their hardest to avoid me, because I couldn't find them. I spun around the corner into a dead end. "Damn it!" I ran back into the corridor to have the razor sharp fin of the Empoleon swing at my head. I ducked, and backed up. The Crawdaunt cornered me.

"This is one hell of a day."

He continued trying to cut me with his fins, and I barely dodged, blocking with the sword and eventually backing up out of the way. He managed to land a few hits, cutting up my shirt. Then something heavy and solid hit me in the back, sending me to the ground. Damn, crab hammer. The Empoleon made an attempt to strike me, but I rolled out of the way, and jumped back onto my feet. I continued down the corridor.

"Were the hell are the girls?"

* * *

I poked my head out of the water. Mesprit and Latias were levitating above me, with arms crossed and looking a little irritated.

"Sorry!"

'You went swimming,' She said. 'And you didn't even consult us.'

"I'm sorry!" I repeated. "But after you left Connie was a little scared, so I just had to get her in the water!"

'You could've at least invited us,' Latias developed an evil smile on her face. 'Now face the wrath of my cannon ball!'

"No, wait!" She flew up, and fell down into the water, creating a tidal wave that pulled me under and pushed me back. I swam to the surface, and brushed the hair out of my eyes. Latias floated to the surface, resting upside-down on the water. We all started laughing.

'We couldn't physically find Calvin, so maybe…?'

'Hold on, I'll check,' Latias sunk beneath the water, before coming back up, looking shocked. 'Uh oh.'

"What?"

'It turns out that Manaphy doesn't know who Calvin is!' She shrieked. 'So she sent pokémon after him because she thinks he's an intruder!'

"Playtime's over!" I climbed out of the pool and grabbed my clothes.

* * *

"Oh no…" The corridor ended. I felt at the wall and looked around. There was no exit. "No, no, no…I'm screwed."

I turned around. Though panting, the Empoleon and Crawdaunt caught up with me, and they looked really annoyed. I backed up to the wall as they drew closer.

"Take your best shot," It wasn't like they were going to kill me…right? I thought otherwise as their fins and claws started to glow.

"Wait!" They turned around. A little late, but Molly and the others came rushing this way. "Wait! He's not an intruder!"

"Neither are they!" I said, stopping the two from launching their attacks.

"Manaa?" Manaphy revealed herself from a puddle of water on the floor, and then she started talking to the two of them in their own speech. Mesprit glided over to me, and started pointing at me and Molly and continued the talk, hopefully explaining and describing us. Manaphy looked at me for a minute, but when she looked at Molly, her eyes widened and she gasped. Mesprit joined in her stare.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

'Unbelievable' She turned to me. 'I never noticed it before, but Molly has all the characteristics of The People of the Water.'

'The People of the Water?'

When everything settled down and we got to know each other, Manaphy led us on a brief tour of the Samiya. Apparently The People of the Water built this temple, and Molly retained all their characteristics—being dark-skinned and blue-haired. Me? I was quietly listening and admiring one fact: Morgan discolored her hair. That was supposed to be mentally scarring in the long run, but looking at what these people built made Molly admire the color of her hair even more. That sucks for you, Morgan. Manaphy took to Molly very fast, nestling herself in her arms.

"This is so weird," She said. "So—"

"Ironic?" I mumbled. She nudged me in the chest. "So uh…where's Lugia?"

"In the hall, in the levels below," Manaphy said. There was a hall here too? That could come in handy.

"Well, I'm going to see him," I said, leaving the group. I wished I could've asked for directions…

"Calvin, wait! Don't step on that—"

I walked across a bridge. But it didn't turn out to be a bridge, but a raft of some sort, and it immediately pulled me down into a tunnel.

"I'm getting too old for this CRAP!" The raft plunged downwards, like some kind of underwater roller coaster. I held on for dear life, as the raft twisted and turned through these tunnels. Eventually the tunnel became transparent, and I could see the ocean around me. Hundreds of water pokémon were swimming around this grand temple now, and from the looks of it, they were enjoying themselves. "Wow…" The fascinating moment was blocked out by the roar of water from ahead. I looked, and saw a waterfall. "They always end with waterfalls, huh?"

The raft suddenly picked up speed and before I could react, I started to drop, and fell into a pool. I swam to the surface, and coughed up water, now completely drenched…again.

The Hall was a short walk from where I was. When I entered, I was met by a long table, made from stone. The hall's ceiling was arched like the rest of the temple, as if it was a chapel, and the windows gave grand views to the underwater world."This place is truly incredible!" I spotted Lugia resting on the ground across the table, staring at the ceiling. I walked up to him.

"Need some company?" I asked.

He turned to me "Thank you for coming…you're soaked."

"Yeah, I took a short-cut," He chuckled. "Wasn't very reliable, as you can see."

He got up, and walked to the window. "Have you seen Cornelia?"

"Yes, I have," I said. "She's very beautiful. You should be proud."

"Then why don't I feel like it?" He asked. I joined him at the window.

"It takes time," I said. "Being a father doesn't start off with excitement. You have to watch over them 24/7," Lugia nodded. "When Molly was born, trust me, she was a handful. But it's not a decision I regret having. 17 years later she's grown into a fine young woman, and I don't have to worry about her as much."

"Well she _is_ half-pokémon," He pointed out.

"That too," I smiled. "But your daughter's a Lugia. She's walking in your footsteps. All I'm saying is…the hard part comes first. As long as you fulfill that part and she's old enough to fend for herself, your job is done."

"How long until that happens?"

"It depends on how long you dedicate yourself to doing it. Once you do that, it will be over in a snap," I snapped my finger. "Once she starts raising herself she'll have you to thank for it."

He smiled. "Thanks for the advice."

"No problem."

"…we should get back," He knelt down. "Care for a ride?"

"Does it involve a shortcut?" He nodded. "Then I'm good."

He frowned and grabbed me by the collar of my coat. "You don't have a choice," He swung me up onto his back.

"No, I don't want to!" He took flight and was preparing to dive into the water again. "I just started drying off again, come on!"

* * *

Cornelia was swimming around in the pool. She basically loved the water now. I sat on the edge of the pool and watched her. She was quickly becoming a fast swimmer. Manaphy started to sing; her voice echoing throughout the room and attracting water pokémon from mysterious parts of the temple. They all gathered around us.

'What a beautiful voice,' I thought. Just then, the surface of the water started to ripple, and Connie, her father, and _my_ father, all emerged, all attracted to the voice. "Hi, dad."

"We're back," He whispered. "I'm going to go dry off."

Lugia looked at me with appreciation. I took that as 'thank you' and smiled. Connie followed him back into the water, and they swam in the pool for a while before eventually disappearing.

"Where are they going?" I asked Latias.

'Home,' She said. 'Her mother must want to see her after all this time.'

I looked at my watch. I guess it was just about time for us to head home as well. I didn't want to say goodbye yet, it just felt like everything happened so fast.

When dad finished drying himself off we said our goodbyes to Manaphy, she gave me a departing gift—a bracelet made of a peculiar crystal, and said that I was always welcome here. I could feel tears forming in my eyes just thinking about it. Dad came to hug me, giving his thanks to Manaphy as well. I could understand her now that I was in close contact with the sword.

"I apologize about earlier," She said. "I hope that doesn't ruin our friendship."

"Not at all," He said. "I haven't had a good run for my life in a few years, anyway," We all broke into laughter. "But thanks for the hospitality."

She nodded, and waved us goodbye. Latias, with help from Mesprit, teleported us back to the boat. Dad started it up and reeled in the anchor.

"So the Samiya catches a current," Dad said, spinning the wheel. "And it drifts underwater, anywhere on the planet…very interesting…"

"Just imagine if it was found," I said. "That would be devastating."

"Well, all that put aside," He continued. "It was nice seeing Cornelia for the first time."

"I second that," I fell back into the sofa, and closed my eyes, as the ship sailed through the evening, on a direct course back to Alto Mare.


	12. Cast Away

Molly and I walked towards the house the next morning. We were having so much fun the previous evening that we were both in need of some serious sleep. I felt like I could sleep all day. Molly groaned.

"Lucky you," She said. "You can take the day off."

"It's still the holidays, Molly," I said. "You're acting like you have school."

"No, I don't," She said. "I'm helping Matt by showing him around the city."

"You know, you never told me why you took interest in this guy, Molly," While it was nice that she had a friend her age, and…well, human, I knew nothing about him. In every father, this triggers an unexpected 'overprotective' state, but I had every reason for it. "All I know is that he just moved here, and he goes to your school, starting next semester."

"He…he saved my life, dad," We both stopped, but we were in front of the house anyway.

"That's impossible."

"How else would you explain how I got help when we were ambushed in Johto?" She had a point. "Oh, I guess I never told you…when I was stuck in the rain, he found me and took me back to the pokémon center for help. He released me a few days later. I owe him my gratitude."

"I'll have to thank him myself," I mumbled. "Well, he has a good heart…he's brave, I must say that…but I still have to talk to him, you know…man to man."

She groaned. "Dad, don't send him running for the hills."

"Okay then, I'll lead him there," I grinned. She shook her head and walked up the canal. I unlocked the door and went inside.

* * *

I knocked on the door at Matt's house. His mom answered. "Oh, hello again…Molly, right?" I nodded. "Matthew! Your girlfriend is here!" There was a loud thud on the upper floor. "Come in and wait, it'll be a while."

"Mom!" He yelled. "She is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"That's what they all say!" She yelled back. My face was glowing with embarrassment.

Amidst the chaos of packing boxes and furniture, I found a metal chair and sat down to wait. In the corner next to the door, I spotted a mannequin, with some fabric in a box next to it. "You sew?"

"Well, it's not that much, but," She pulled up the box, revealing a lavender dress. "I made this myself."

"It's beautiful," I looked at it. "Are you a designer?"

"No, it's just a hobby," She said, holding the dress. "It would be nice to pursue something like it, though…I heard that this city was all about the arts, so that's why we moved."

"It is," I said. "My dad opened his restaurant here ten years ago, and he just won an award."

"Really?" She asked. "Wow, I don't know…are you sure I could do this for a living? I mean, who would want to buy hand-made clothes?"

"There are a lot of people in this city, and it's a well-known tourist attraction," I said. "You'll be in business in no time."

She thought about it. Matt, ready to go and followed by Cora, came and joined us. "Hi, Molly."

"You two enjoy your day," She said. "Molly, thanks for the chat."

I nodded, and we waved goodbye. It started to snow again.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"Your mom's sewing," I said. "She's really good, and I was talking to her about it."

"Well she _is_ good," He said. "She made this shirt."

"A lot of boys don't usually say that, but alright," I looked at his shirt. There was no way I could tell it apart from a name-brand shirt, except for the fact that there was no tag. "I have an idea."

"What?"

"Your mom should open her own store!"

"Isn't that expensive?" He asked. "I mean, when your dad started his restaurant, didn't he have to pay out of his pocket?"

"You have a point," Dad got lucky. When he was a trainer, he happened to win at the Indigo Plateau and Silver Conference before he retired and got married to mom, and used the winnings to buy both the house and the restaurant from its original owners. But dad never regretted the decision, nor did he ask for anything else. Winning an award after all these years spoke for itself. But times weren't as simple as they were anymore. "We have to think of something…but for now, I have a city to show you."

Matt, Cora and I walked through the city, and for some time I felt like a tour guide. I mentioned a few things about the buildings, relaying only what my teachers taught me. As the day rolled on, we stopped by a few places such as the museum, and the statues of Latios and Latias. Matt and Cora looked at them with admiration, also warming themselves up from the mist of the warm water the fountain was using.

"Don't stare too hard," I giggled.

He looked at me. "Wow, they protect this entire city…Molly, I know this is a stupid question, but…do you know anything about them?"

"You're just in luck," I said. "I met them a few times."

"Really?"

I wasn't trying to push it or anything, but it didn't hurt to describe them. "One's red and one's blue. Brother and sister. It's really an honor to meet them in person, but other times you may not even know that they're here," He seemed confused. "I mean, they're shape shifters. They can change into the form of anything they choose, specifically humans."

"Oh, wow…so they could take the form of anyone here?" I nodded. "I wish I could meet them."

"Heh," I chuckled. "Stick around and you might get your wish…"

"What was that?"

"Never mind, let's go," I grabbed his hand and walked along the edge of the city. Eventually, this street lead to the docks. "I know this as a shortcut to a great sandwich shop."

"Hey Molly, look," There were a group of people up ahead, looking down at something, probably in the water. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Let's go see."

We ran up to the crowd, and muscled our way through to see what they were looking at. "What's going on?"

"Down there," We looked down into the ice-filled waters, and spotted a Dragonair lying on the rocks, visibly unconscious. "I spotted it this morning, just before the ships started coming in."

"I got an idea," He said, kneeling down to Cora. "Cora, use your vines and bring up that Dragonair," Cora nodded, and ran to the edge of the dock and extended her vines down and wrapped them around the Dragonair.

Within seconds it was being reeled in until it was high enough to be picked up by a few people. It was hurt badly; there were painful looking burns on its skin, plus random cuts and bruises, probably from the rocks at the bottom of the dock. There was something oddly familiar, and when it started to open its eyes I jumped back.

"Molly, what's wrong?" In fact, it sprang to life, causing everyone else to jump back. "Never mind!"

It looked around frantically, almost as if trying to avoid something, and when it realized it was out of danger, it sighed.

"You…" I knew who this Dragonair was. She looked at me, and started to tear up. I wanted to show sympathy for her condition, but I became overwhelmed with anger. She squinted, and fell to the ground again. Matt ran up to her.

"She needs help. Fast."

* * *

Due to her length and weight, it took four of us to carry her back to the pokémon center. Four hours passed afterwards, as doctors rushed to treat her. Matt had his arms folded, leaning up against the wall as I took to a sofa.

"Molly! Matthew!" Dad called from the entrance. "What happened?"

"We found a Dragonair at the docks," Matt said. "It was in pretty bad shape, so we brought it back here for help."

"That's it?" He turned to me. "I thought it was much serious than that."

A doctor came out to us. I got up and joined him.

"She'll be fine," Matt sighed in relief, but I didn't. "She's suffered some serious burns, almost as if inflicted from battle, but she'll be fine to leave in a few days. Who am I releasing her to?"

"Wait, why?" I asked. "Doesn't she have a trainer?"

"Well I checked, but so far, I can't find any recognition of a pokéball," He continued. "This generally occurs if the pokéball has been severely damaged."

Damaged, as in destroyed. Mixed thoughts rolled around in my head over this. Why would her trainer just release her like this? She obviously took no remorse by leaving me to die in the rain. Something didn't feel right here, and I had to investigate. She might be trying to lead us into another ambush.

"I'll do it," Matt said, stepping up. "You can release her to me."

The doctor nodded, and led us to the recovery room. We peered through the window at the bandaged and sleeping Dragonair. "I've sedated her for the recovery, but it will wear off in a couple of hours. You're welcome to stay if you wish," And he walked away. Dad looked through the window for a moment, and then gasped.

"Molly, can I speak to you for a minute?" We walked to a separate hallway. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That this could all be another one of Morgan's plans to try and lure us into another trap?" I scoffed. "I know him too well, so sending his pokémon here for our sympathy seems a little too…expected."

"Okay, so you're not thinking what I'm thinking."

I frowned. "Not you too."

"Molly, there's something I didn't tell you when we were imprisoned in that mountain," He said. "Shortly after Mismagius freed me and I found the sword, she gave me Rayquaza's inescapable pokéball, which I destroyed, and didn't raise the alarm when we escaped."

"It doesn't make sense. Why would she help you?" I asked. "She tried to kill me."

"No, she _didn't_" He said. "Come to think of it…she hasn't attacked us since that ambush, and even then she didn't put up much of a fight. When you were attacked in the rain, she told me that she was only trying to immobilize you, but that Infernape took it too far."

"Yeah, and broke my ribs," I rubbed my chest. Most of the pain had gone away, but that didn't mean that I was about to forgive and forget.

* * *

Matt spent every day at the pokémon center with the Dragonair until her discharge on Wednesday. Me, having been deprived of sleep, went home and waited for his return. It was a peculiar thing about him. He cared for me and the Dragonair almost as if we were newborns, and our sizes never bothered him…much. I thought about it as me and dad walked to his house that same morning.

Dad knocked on the door. Matthew's mother answered it. "Good morning, Ms…?"

"Please, call me Caitlyn," She said, waving us inside. "You must be…Calvin, right? My son has told me all about you."

"That's weird. I don't remember saying _that_ much to him," She chuckled. I shook my head and went to find Matt.

Eventually I found him sitting in the living room. This is where most of the boxes had been dropped off until they could be unpacked. Matt had long since cleared an opening and the Dragonair was laying in it, but he was nowhere near her.

"Remember that Tyranitar I told you I was looking after?" Vividly. "Even _she_ had a better mood than this Dragonair."

"I couldn't see why," She heard the anger in my voice, and squinted. It almost looked like she couldn't bear hearing the disappointment. "Matt…what do you plan to do with her?"

"Well after I decided to look after her I finally realized…my mom would kill me," He said. "Strangely, that didn't happen, so I think it'd be great if we could keep her."

'Not you too,' I groaned. Cora came out to us, rolling a berry up to the Dragonair. She looked at it for a moment before starting to cry. Matt went to her aid.

"The problem is," Matt tried comforting her by rubbing her neck. "Ever since she left the hospital and came here she hasn't moved from this spot, and she's been crying a lot," He got up. "It's like something's bothering her."

I refused to show her any sympathy, I just couldn't do it. I waved Matt goodbye and left with dad to go to the back to the house to talk it over. He had had a good conversation with Matt's mother, mentioning my idea of her marketing her work. Finally getting something different to think about, I told dad about my idea with Matt about opening her own store. The day rolled by, and before I knew it, it was evening. Grandma was sitting on the sofa reading a book. Maybe she could help.

"Grandma?" She looked up.

"What is it, dear?"

"I want to ask you something," I sat down next to her, and rested my head on her shoulder. "Say, hypothetically, a person has hurt you in the past, and you refuse to trust them when they come to you for help…what do you do?"

She took a deep breath. "Wow, I've never heard that one before…it takes time, dear. They may try their best to convince you otherwise, but it's not that easy. Do you, hypothetically, feel that you may be in danger for showing sympathy?"

"Hypothetically, yes."

"Yes, it's a phase," She went on. "If that person is in dire need of your help, then the right thing to do would be to help them. I mean, if you think about it, don't you think there's a reason they came to _you_ instead of anyone else?"

I sat up. "Wow…I never thought of it that way," She looked at me, confused. "…hypothetically. Thanks, grandma."

"No problem, dear. Sleep well."

I got up, and walked up to my room. Wow, that was another point. Why would she come to us for help? Of course, that only defended my thought that she was planning another trap, so with mixed thoughts, I drifted into an uneasy sleep. Hours had passed, and when I woke up again, it was 1:21 in the morning. The window was open, and it was freezing cold in my room. I closed the window, eventually realizing that I never opened it…

"What the…" I spun around. The Dragonair was curled up in a corner of the room looking directly back at me. There wasn't sorrow, or pain in her eyes anymore. "I knew this was a trap!"

I ran for the door but she wrapped herself around my body so tight that it actually began to hurt my ribs again. I bit my tongue and tried to scream, but she covered my mouth with one final wrap. We fell to the floor with a thud.

* * *

I heard a slight scream, only to have it muffled quickly. My eyes shot open and I jumped out of bed, grabbing the sword. Burglars…no. Nightmares…Molly didn't have any recently that I knew of…pokémon fooling us with a sob story to let our guard down long enough to lead us into a trap? Seemed likely.

"I hate it when she's right!" I ran across to her room and pushed the door open. Molly was wrapped up in the body of the Dragonair and was being painfully strangled. Her mouth was covered to prevent any noise. "Get off of her!"I pulled on her tail, unraveling her from Molly, and she backed into a corner. I held up the sword. "I warned you."

"Please, wait!" She cried. "I just want to talk!"

"So strangling my daughter to death counts as 'just talking'?"

"I was trying to keep her from making any noise! The last thing I want to do is wake up the rest of the people here."

I inched closer to her. She wasn't getting off this easy this time.

"I had no intention of harming your daughter," She said. "If you still do not believe me…then do as you wish."

The tip of the blade was inches away from her, but something didn't feel right. I obviously couldn't do anything with this sword at such close range, and she had every chance to counter attack and she didn't. I lowered the sword.

"Dad!"

"It's okay, Molly," I whispered. "She's telling the truth."

She sighed.

"Why don't you start by telling us why you're here?" I asked.

"Five years ago," She started. "When I was born…my parents were captured by poachers. They tried so desperately to escape, but their efforts were wasted. They were…killed for the orbs on their necks and tails. I tried defending them, but as a baby, I couldn't even defend myself. They tortured me with their pokémon before escaping, but I couldn't survive on my own. Beaten and alone, I washed up on a beach, and for two days I lay there, slowly dying, until Dr. Morgan found me."

"He nursed me back to health, and as an initiative, gave me a place to stay while I could grow up. But he wasn't exactly what I was expecting," She continued. "For the next four years we trained night and day, against brutal obstacle courses that no one in my place could've survived. Eventually I came to rank with that Infernape. But he was my ice breaker. When I looked at him, I started to realize that Morgan didn't raise me out of love or affection, but just to use my power as a tool to help him further expand his dream. That's when I heard him talking about you."

She looked at me. "Me?"

"His plan was to create the perfect army of pokémon out of humans. Only, you had rescued all of the people he had kidnapped. Since then, his sole purpose was to make you suffer, and that was my primary objective," She went on. "All the things I had witnessed in the years leading up to now finally made sense, but before I could escape, we had a mission to complete. And that was when I finally met you, and your daughter. I looked at you and I wondered. How could one person go up against this man and prevail so easily, and yet I couldn't? I refused to attack. I wanted to show you that my intentions were right, but I couldn't in time, and when I saw her lying on the ground, injured and dying, I knew I had to make a choice, now. And that is why I helped you escape your confinement."

"You were just looking for the easy way out," Molly said. I turned to her. "But how did you end up here?"

She closed her eyes. "Everything comes with a price. After Morgan learned of my betrayal he released me, and sent his Infernape to kill me. After he gained the upper hand he tried to land the finishing blow, but I just barely escaped to the water, which led to the ocean, which eventually led me back here. Hopefully someone would find me—"

"—and that someone would be us," I finished, getting up. "Now I understand…"

I looked at Molly. Whether she chose to believe her or not was unreal, but it was her decision. I couldn't pursue it any further.

The sun rose very early the next morning, or so we thought. The snow proved to be a real pain, reflecting all the light from the sun and blinding the hell out of me. I got dressed, to try and see if I could open the restaurant today, but there were no promises. I left my room and walked over to Molly's. Her bed had been made up, but she wasn't in here. Shortly after, I could hear laughter from downstairs, and the smell of breakfast lured me to the kitchen.

"Mom, where's Molly?" I asked. She pointed to the sofa and continued cooking. Molly was sitting on the couch with Matthew, and the Dragonair. "Everyone okay?"

"Yep," Molly said. She looked happy, so I figured everything was okay. "Matt came by, worried about her this morning, so I told him that she was here, and now we're just talking."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. Ironically enough, 'just talking' got us into that situation this morning. "Just _talking_? So Matthew, when did you get here?"

"Well I came over at around 7:30," I checked my watch. It was 9:53.

"So you were 'just talking' for exactly two hours and twenty-three minutes, is that correct?" He nodded slowly. "Something you could've done over the phone?"

"Not unless he doesn't have one," Molly said through gritted teeth.

"Ah, excuses," I chuckled. "Do you mind if I borrow your Dragonair for a minute?"

"Um…no…?" She followed me to the kitchen.

I sat down on a stool and looked at her. "You know—" I looked at mom, who had continued cooking even through my entrance. "Mom…could you excuse us for a minute?"

"If the bacon burns it's on you," She said, and walked out to the living room.

I turned back to the Dragonair. "Look, I know you don't want to go back to your previous life with Morgan, so I'm going to let you stay here. In Alto Mare," I exercised, before she could get excited. "I want you to stay with Matt and his mother. He's the one who saved your life and looked after you while you were recovering, so he deserves the benefit of the doubt. As for Molly…she went through the same thing you did, as you can see…she's a perfect example of what Morgan did to those people. It took me years to get her back to her normal life, and I'm not going to see it fall apart again, and even though you proved yourself as an ally back in Johto, you still haven't gained her trust. Trust me, I can see it in her eyes. So if you want to ever get on her good side, you're going to need to do it gradually and carefully, and as for me…" I got up, and rubbed her head. "Look, I know what it's like to lose someone you love. You, having enough will to break free of Morgan's madness and figure out wrong from right has officially put you on my good side. I'm sure your parents would've been proud."

She started to cry. I hugged her for comfort. The whole moment was ruined when the smoke detector went off.

"What the hell…?" I looked up at the stove, as the pan with the bacon became engulfed in fire. "DAMN IT!"


	13. New Years

**I couldn't help but re-produce some "Day after Tomorrow" drama with New Years. Enjoy the chapyer.**

* * *

"It's New Years Eve," I grunted. "And I'm out here shoveling all this crap."

I dumped the snow onto a pile beside the restaurant and looked up. More snow was coming down, and already, a thin layer was starting to cover what I had already shoveled a few minutes ago. I groaned loudly, some of the others shoveling heard me and did the same.

"It doesn't even snow in this city, what's going on?" I ditched what I was doing and walked back into the restaurant. "Danielle, turn on the news."

She picked up the remote and turned on the flat screen hanging from the ceiling. The news was on; in fact, it was on every channel, with severe weather advisories.

"I'm coming to you live from Lilycove City, in Hoenn," The news reporter said. "As you can see, and I know you're not going to believe, but it's snowing. Here!" He picked up a handful. "This severe weather pattern that's stretching all across the globe is not only affecting parts of the world that are normally subject to snow, but it's happening in tropical climates as well. It's bitter cold, and as you can see behind me," The cameraman turned towards the docks. Danielle and I gasped. There were ships stuck abruptly in the ice-covered ocean. "Ships have been stranded out there since Christmas, and it's not just here. Slateport City is also suffering similar problems. Water transportation to and from Hoenn has been suspended."

"That was live, from Hoenn," The Anchorman continued. "These are satellite images directly from Mossdeep City, and as you can see," The satellite images showed what looked like a planetary weather pattern, covering a majority of the three continents. Sinnoh wasn't seen. "The only good news is that the only region unaffected by this weather appears to be Sinnoh, but that is expected to change later on in the week."

A couple of people, including restaurant employees, and customers, were all watching this. I turned to Danielle.

"Hoenn is isolated without its docks," I turned to everyone else. "Listen, if anyone has any family in any of these regions, you're welcome to call."

The lights started to flicker. After a couple of seconds, they went out. The digital age wasn't looking all that good right about now.

"Strike that," I picked up an old telephone from under the counter. "Okay the power is out, but that doesn't mean the telephones don't work."

'You sound like you're going somewhere.'

"I am, I'm going to go check up on Molly and my Mother," I said. "No electricity, no heat."

'This is the worst New Years Eve ever,' I thought.

* * *

When I got back home, I found the house to be very warm, eventually finding out that Typhlosion was the cause, walking around, and emitting heat and keeping the place from freezing. Caitlyn, Matthew, his Bayleef and his Dragonair, Molly, my mother and all the others were in the living room when I walked in. There were candles all around. Molly got up. "Dad, what's going on?"

"Storm," I said. "Snow is good for one thing. But when it covers two-thirds of the planet from Kanto to Hoenn," They all gasped. "It can be a real pain in the ass."

"So that's what cut out the power?" I shook my head, and asked Molly to come with me to the kitchen. "What is it?"

"Since I'm very familiar with the Eon Dragons now, I took notice of something," He continued. "All these years I've lived in this city, and I have not witnessed not one power plant, or generator. Nor are there any wires, but they could all run through the houses, since this city works like a maze. The city, in theory, is powered by aura."

Molly looked at me, as if I had just lost my mind. "Did you just say…aura?"

"Remember when they used the soul dew to power the DMA?" She nodded. "A defense mechanism meant for an entire city…that could also mean that the soul dew is a _power source_ for an entire city."

"And if that power source is disturbed…"

"Then light's out," I looked around. "And I think I know why. When we went to go see Latias, she had the soul dew with her to keep it warm, because you can't emit energy in the cold, and it could've died. Doing so might have kept the power on for maybe a few weeks, if not squandered, but since it was done so discreetly and since people have lives to live, they needed the power, draining what energy we had left."

"Well where can we put the soul dew where it can generate power?" She asked.

"It's not that simple," I said. "It has to be in a specific spot or it will not work. Like the fountain in the garden."

"But the fountain's frozen over…"

"And that's where I come in," I turned and walked her back to the others. "I'm going to see Latias. I have to get to Arceus."

I went up to my room and got the sword, then walked to the front door again. I turned to everyone. "I'll be back before the countdown."

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Calvin," Latias said. "But I couldn't let anything to happen to him…"

Rayquaza and Latias were still in the small cavern we uncovered. He didn't want to leave her, because he was still worried about her well-being and still guilty of what he did, although he wasn't fully responsible.

"It's okay, Latias, really," I rubbed her forehead. "We can survive a few days without power."

She nodded. "You're covered in snow. How bad is the weather?"

"Planetary."

"Oh my…is there anything I can do?"

"No, it's safer to stay inside," I said. "Protect the soul dew. But I need Rayquaza's help."

"What? But…who will keep me company?"

"Well there's always my house," She smiled, and hugged me. "Just let Molly know before you get there. Matthew and his mother are there with him."

"Okay."

I urged Rayquaza to come, and he and I left the cave, shivering when we stepped foot outside.

"Damn, I never knew it could get so cold," He said.

"Well come on, then," I climbed onto his back. "Up and above the snow."

* * *

The doorbell rang. I got up to see who it was.

'Hi, Molly!'

"Latias?" I welcomed her in and brushed the snow off of her shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

'Your dad said that I could join you for New Years, since he and Rayquaza went to see Arceus,' She rubbed her arms and followed me to the living room. 'That left me all alone.'

Matt's mother was sitting on the sofa knitting a blanket. His Dragonair, which at the moment, was watching her knit while Matt was working on her new name.

"How about Sarah?"

"Think outside the box, Matthew."

"Okay," He scrolled down the list. "Altaria?"

"I believe, that's already taken, no?" Latias giggled at the effort. "Oh, welcome back, Molly. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is…um…" I never thought I'd ever have to describe her in public. Now I was at a loss for names.

"Amy."

"Amy?"

"Oh, hello there, Amy," After telling Matthew's mother that we were childhood friends, we all gathered in a group on the floor.

"You can speak?" I whispered to her.

"Not much," She replied. "It's still hard to pro…noun…ce big words, but I got it down."

"Okay," Matt picked up his notepad again. "Do you mind helping me pick out some names for my Dragonair, Amy?"

"I'd love to!"

"Of course," I rolled my eyes.

* * *

"You don't know what's wrong?" I asked.

Arceus lay by the edge of the hall, looking out at the weather mass that was starting to approach Sinnoh. It's dark clouds flashed with lightning, and unlike any other storm it looked as if it was intent on shrouding the world.

"Unfortunately not," She said. "But it's giving me a headache."

"Huh?"

"This storm is disrupting the balance of nature," She went on. "I can feel what others cannot, and I know it's causing pain for the humans, pokémon, and natural life around the planet. I've been repelling this storm from the shores of Sinnoh for three days, but it is becoming stronger, and I'm afraid that it will eventually break through. Calvin, I entrust that you can handle this?" I nodded, but then realized something and turned to her.

"You're still recovering from that incident, aren't you? You can't control this storm?" She let out a deep sigh. "Fine, I'll handle it, but it's not making things easier between you and me."

I climbed up onto Rayquaza's back and we left the hall. I asked him to go higher, just so I could know what we were dealing with.

"Calvin, you can't breathe up in the troposphere," He said. "Plus you could die from the cold."

"I'll take my chances," I took a deep breath, as the air thinned and we ascended into the troposphere. Rayquaza, apparently unaffected by the sudden air loss, topped out and looked back down.

'Oh my god…'

I couldn't see land anymore. The earth was covered in a massive cloud, with great flashes of lightning, and what looked like hurricanes, but larger. I was worried about everyone, including my family. This had to end now before it could get a chance to succeed. I tapped Rayquaza's head, and got him to return to a breathable atmosphere.

"We need Groudon," I said to him. "He's the only one with enough power to dissipate these clouds. Where is he?"

"I can usually find him when he and Kyogre are engulfed in battle, but after that his aura disappears," In the first few months as Arceus's Aide, there was a rumor being passed around that there was an orb somewhere in Hoenn that could awaken him from anywhere on the planet.

"Rayquaza, what do you know about an orb?"

"You mean the ones they use to lure the two out? They're atop Mount Pyre."

Hopefully that mountain was just tall enough to be seen above these clouds. Over an hour of flight, and we managed to get back to Hoenn. Mount Pyre was covered up by the storm, but the volcano had survived, repelling the snow with its molten hot lava. Rayquaza pinpointed the mountain's location, and dove down to its peak. I slid off of his back and landed in the thick snow. Looking back at the landmass, Hoenn was just about ready to be put out of its misery. We had to work fast.

"There they are," Color-coded. How convenient. "Now all we have to do is use the orb and call out Groudon."

"Make it quick," Rayquaza shivered. "I hate snow."

As a dragon, he was forced to hate something so harmless and simple. But with snow all the way up to my waist, there was no excuse for it now. I walked up to the stand. "Aww, come on!" They were frozen to the stand. I pulled at it, but the ice was thick and it wouldn't budge. "There's got to be some way I can—uh oh."

Something cold and round was held up to my neck. It felt like the end of a barrel. I placed my hands in the air and prayed that whoever this was had some remorse.

"Look, I know what you're thinking," I said slowly. "I'm not here to steal the orbs. As you can see, they're frozen to their stands."

"Then what do you want with them?" A male voice asked.

"I need to summon Groudon."

"The last time that happened," A female voice said, anger in her voice. "It almost destroyed the balance of nature!"

"And we're not going to let that happen!" I heard a clicking sound, and I quickly jumped out of the way before a shot could be fired. I landed in a large pile of snow, but there were no shots. Instead, there was laughter.

"What the?" I looked up. An elderly man and his wife were standing where I was, indulged in laughter. "That wasn't funny!"

"It works every time," He said to his wife "I don't suppose you expect me to shoot you with my cane. But getting back to more serious matters," I got up, and brushed the show off of my coat. "What is your purpose for coming here?"

"I need the red orb to reawaken Groudon," I said. "He is the only one who has the power to stop this weather."

"I know," He said. "But why are you so intent on doing so?"

Since they were elderly and had probably seen and heard far worse that what I was about to tell them, I told them about Arceus, and my personal alliance with the legendaries. I showed them the sword, which they took notice of, and finally agreed that I could have the orb.

"Really?"

"We believe you," The lady said. "There have been many legends that Arceus would entrust a human to do what you do…after all, it's not uncommon for a legendary pokémon to trust a human with such tedious tasks."

"Calvin!" Rayquaza roared, causing all of us to jump. "Did you get the orb yet?"

"Um, I'm in kind of a hurry."

The old man whistled, and a Houndoom came running up the path. It thawed out the red orb and I picked it up. It started to glow at its center.

"Finally!" Rayquaza landed in the snow beside us. The elderly couple looked at the sky dragon, and then back at me. "Let's go."

"I have to go now, but I promise that I will return this orb," I climbed onto Rayquaza's back. "Thanks!"

They waved me off with a smile.

Rayquaza and I flew a short distance over to the mainland. As we drew closer, the orb started to glow brighter. I looked down. Cities that were once bustling and prosperous had almost vanished in the snow. I had really hoped that there were no casualties in this mess.

"Is something burning?"

"No, it's just the—" The orb was glowing so brightly that it was actually heating up. "ORB! OW OW!" I dropped it, and it rolled along Rayquaza's back. I tried to catch it but it fell out of my reach, and towards the ground. "Dive!"

I held on as Rayquaza nosedived in an attempt to catch the orb. But as it fell, it grew hotter, and when it fell to the ground it melted all the snow around it. There was actually grass under all of that. I jumped of his back and used my hat to hold the orb, but it was no longer hot. We had reached our destination; there was a cave entrance to my left, which led into the bowels of Mount Chimney. I walked inside as Rayquaza strode in behind me.

"Groudon…Mount Chimney…Lava," I put all the pieces together. "That's not a clue, that's a billboard."

"A billboard that apparently _you_, couldn't decipher," Rayquaza chuckled. It subsided, and he revved up to ask me something.

"You're still worried about Latias, aren't you?" I asked.

"…she hasn't said much to me since we escaped," He said. "I know it wasn't my fault, but I'm getting the feeling that she's mad at me."

"Rayquaza, what were you expecting?" I asked. "Rainbows and a happy ending? It's only been a week since we escaped that place. It takes time…trust me, she's not mad at you, she's just gathering her thoughts."

"You've dealt with this before, haven't you?"

"With Molly, with Latias herself, with Danielle, and even with Emelina."

He sighed. "I hope you're right."

The mountain got hotter as we made our way down to its depths. I took off my coat and swung it over my shoulder. If it wasn't the unbearable cold, it was the blistering heat. Rayquaza was unaffected by this, so I hitched a ride. Magma started bubbling up from cracks in the walls.

"There he is."

"Already?" I wheezed. Groudon was sitting on the magma at the bottom of a massive pit. He was breathing, and it looked as ifthe magma was moving up and down with every breath. "Wait…what are we here for?"

"The heat must be making you lightheaded," Rayquaza lay his head down, and I climbed up. "We need Groudon to reverse the weather, remember?"

"Hm? Oh! Oh yeah…" I took the orb out of my hat and held it up. Almost immediately, a wave of red light flashed from it, engulfing the entire room and when it disappeared, Groudon was awake, annoyed.

"How dare you awake me?" He yelled. "What is the meaning for—"

"Ah, cut the crap," I said, fanning myself with the hat. "Look we need you, alright? The weather has gone completely out of control. It's snowing in Hoenn, the seas have frozen over, and I know you're not a morning person, but hey, it beats having another ice age."

"Kyogre…" He growled.

"AAAAAT. Wrong."

Rayquaza looked at me, curiously. "Um, Calvin, do you know who you're talking to?"

"Yeah, it's my dad, right?"

"Okay, I need to get you out of this heat," He spun around and flew back out of the cave. The cold air and the windy weather knocked me back into my senses, while giving me a run for my coat. I shivered.

"My head…" Everything started to spin. "Where's Groudon?"

He eventually followed, melting mounds of snow as he passed to get to us.

"If this isn't Kyogre's doing, then who's is it?" I shrugged.

"Maybe it's just the Earth. But either way, we can't let it happen."

Groudon looked up. "I must find the center of this storm," Then he looked down at me. "And if you ever talk to me in such an insolent tone again…you will not be protected from Arceus. I _will_ kill you."

I nodded vigorously. He burrowed underground.

"Where's he going?"

"Well, you know the Earth is just one big rock," Rayquaza said. "He can burrow underground and come up anywhere on the planet. Now that he's awake, I can follow him."

* * *

The sun was setting, as Rayquaza followed Groudon's path from above the clouds. I checked my watch. It was 7:32.

"Come on, Rayquaza," I said. "New Years is in less than five hours."

"I know," He said. "But I'm confident that we will find the center of the storm in time…like right now."

He pointed down to a swirling void. Lightning was viciously branching out from it, so he spiraled down into the clouds. It was raining heavily, and the oceans were producing violent waves as much as fifty feet high. Still, Groudon apprared, and the water seemed to circle around him.

"Isn't water his weakness?" I asked.

"Yes, but his skin is so hot that it vaporizes before it can touch him," Rayquaza replied. "This is why he and Kyogre are engulfed in endless battles."

Waves like these would succeed in disabling him, so we circled to make sure that wouldn't happen. The markings on his body started to glow, and he began to roar incredibly loud. I covered my ears. Suddenly, the light from the top of the void intensified, and soon rays of sunlight started burning holes in the clouds all around us. The rain stopped falling and the seas calmed.

"That was it?" I blurted out. "I went through all of this just for one roar?"

"What were you expecting?" Groudon lashed back.

"Oh, I don't know…maybe some fire action, a volcano perhaps."

We stopped in midair next to him as the sun reappeared. The storm clouds had started to retreat, meaning that this New Years was saved from an otherworldly storm.

"I will be returning to Hoenn," Groudon said, burrowing into the small island that he created to stand on. "The snow will not melt itself."

Rayquaza waved him goodbye even though he did not see it, and we flew towards Alto Mare.

"So what's your New Year's resolution, Ray?" I asked.

"I hadn't thought about it much," He replied. "Regain Latias's trust, for starters. You?"

I shrugged. "I'll think about it _after_ we return this orb."

* * *

It was nightfall again, in the city. The candles were on their last bits of wax when I noticed that the snow had stopped falling. I rushed to the window.

"Yes! He did it!"

I grabbed Matt's arm and walked out onto the terrace. There was snow on the ground, but much of it had melted away from the weather, which turned out to be incredibly warm after the few days of bitter endless snow.

"Wow," He pointed up to the sky, and I could spot millions of stars. Since there was no light from the city, the sky replaced it with its beauty. "Look at it, it's so beautiful."

He looked back at me. "I've never seen a night so peaceful…wait, that's it!"

"What?"

"Quick, what's another word for 'peace and quiet'?"

"Um…tranquil?"

"No, that won't work," He started to think. "Anything else?"

"Uh…Serene. Matt, what's this all about?"

"Serene…Sere…na…Serena!"

He took off back into the house. I followed, utterly confused until I found him again, sitting in front of his Dragonair. Oh, I get it…he had found a name for her.

"Serena," He pronounced. "You're quiet, and peaceful. The name suits you."

"Peaceful…yeah, I'll bet."

Dad returned some ten minutes later, with Rayquaza tagging along. Latias was quickly informed that everything was okay, and she went back home to replace the Soul Dew. We wouldn't see her for the rest of the night, because she wanted to spend New Years with Latios. Rayquaza followed, probably to keep her company, and about 15 minutes after their departure, the lights came back on again.

"Calvin," Grandma called. "Where have you been?"

"At the restaurant," He lied. "It's been a hectic day, you know, with no electricity and all."

I sat on the floor next to Matt, while Grandma, Dad, and Matt's mother sat on the sofa. He turned on the TV.

"In what appears to be a miracle," A news reporter said. "The severe weather pattern that has been plaguing the continents of Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto with snow, rain, and ice, has ceased this New Years Eve. Just around 7:30 this evening storm clouds were reported to have broken up, and an hour later, things returned to normal. I am live in Kanto, and the temperature here is mind boggling. It appears that this evening's weather is warm and humid, with a record temperature of 82 degrees. The waist-high snow is nothing more than puddles of water now."

"That's not the best part," Matt said.

"And the best part," The reporter continued. "That as you can see," The cameraman pointed his camera towards the sky. "It is a beautiful night. In my experience, I have never seen a night sky so clear and beautiful. It's a perfect evening to celebrate New Years. Speaking of which, now that everything has returned to normal, live from Mauville City, is the New Years countdown."

The cameras were switched to Mauville. I checked the clock on the wall. 11:59 already? There was a large crowd in the center of town, watching a big screen that read 11:59:48. As soon as the seconds reached 50, It started to count down from 10, and there was an echo from the people as they chanted it. I looked back. Dad had drawn closer to the TV.

"So long, 2009," He said quickly. "Thanks for the award!"

I shook my head as the chanting continued.

"7…6…5…4…3…2…1…"


	14. Pincushions And Needles

Two weeks had passed into the year of 2010. Since then, school had resumed, and Matt was situated comfortably into his classes. We almost had the same schedules, except for science, which he opted to swap out for cooking. I sat at my work station in Mr. Mancini's class on a brisk Tuesday afternoon working on a picture. It didn't look the best, but Honestly, I didn't even know what I was drawing. I stopped, and looked at it.

"It could be worse," He mused as he walked by. I gritted my teeth.

"Thank you, Mr. Mancini," I dipped my brush into some red paint.

My thoughts drifted towards Matt, who was sitting a few stations away, smiling and looking at his picture. He looked very excited, and it made me curious as to why. I leaned my stool back and whispered to him. "Matt…what's wrong?"

He looked at me. "I'll show you when we're done!"

I had never seen him so excited, so when class was over, I hurried to join him, but Mr. Mancini stopped me. He had something to talk to me about.

"Did you find your tutor?"

"Yes, I did," I exclaimed proudly. "She's the best."

"Interesting…care to explain…?" He pointed his pen at my drawing. I covered my mouth.

"Oh, that? That's just a doodle," He nodded slowly.

"Melinda, I'm giving you an assignment," He said, giving me a worksheet. "The instructions are on that paper. I need you to hand it in by no later than February 28th. Have a nice day."

"You too…?" I left his class. Matt was nowhere to be found, so I guessed he meant by the end of the day.

I got through my next few classes very easily, and by the time the final bell tolled, I had time to look over Mr. Mancini's assignment, while walking back towards home. It said that I had to draw a picture of emotion; the picture, having nothing to do with anything in particular, had to reflect my emotions at the time I drew it. At first I was confused, but then a couple of ideas sprang into my mind just long enough for me to forget them in a scare when someone covered my eyes.

"Matt! I was in the middle of something!"

"Oh, sorry," His voice was still filled with excitement. "But you have to see this!"

He led me in the direction of an unknown destination. It had to be petty far, because we were walking for some time. He uncovered my eyes and we were now standing on another cobblestone street in front of an old vacant store. His mother could be seen in the inside, with a roll of fabric over her arm. I gasped.

"No…she didn't…" He nodded happily. "Oh my god, she got a store!"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed. "It was one of her New Year's resolutions. So for the last two weeks we were searching, and we found this old store!"

"How did she get it?"

"The original owner was kind enough to let us rent it out," He continued. "She says she's moving back to her family in Verdanturf Town after the storm, so that she could always be with them. She's a really nice old lady."

"Let's go in!" We walked inside and looked around. It was a work in progress, but the future of this place looked very bright.

"Oh, Hello Molly," I waved to her. "Do you like it? I know it's not much, but…wow, I'm nervous."

"About what?" I asked. "This road leads straight to the docks, which means that this is one of the first streets that visitors travel through when they're touring the city."

"That's good to know," She said. "Okay you two, I know you just got out of to school, but…it's time to work. Help me fix this place up."

We both nodded, and got to work. Many of the supplies had been brought and were just waiting to be set. Wallpaper, pictures of famous fashion designers, and some light fixtures were lying on the ground. I picked up a roll of wallpaper and took a deep breath. It brought back memories from when the restaurant was preparing for business. We spent most of the afternoon helping Matt's mother fix up her new shop, and when the sun started to set we called it a day and locked up. Then she looked at the both of us.

"If it's not too much to ask, Molly," She said. "I would like you to accompany Matt to the bank tomorrow."

"What for?"

"Well I need to get some money for the down payment, and tomorrow's the last day. And I thought since you know so much about the city, you could lead him there?"

"Oh, sure," I replied. "I have no problem with that."

We walked home.

* * *

The following afternoon Matt and I left school for lunch. Fortuitously, we were allowed to do this on Wednesdays, so we decided to go to the bank now. It was very windy today.

He turned to me. "Do you think I'll get a discount?"

"I don't know…do you deserve it?" I grinned.

"Hey, she's my mother!" He argued. "I have to get a discount on clothes!"

"Not necessarily. She's also the manager," I replied. "She could jack the prices up for you if you get a bad grade or something."

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah…that's something to think about."

The bank was not far from school. In fact, the convenience of the location was everything. It was centered in the middle of the city where numerous canals met; that's where the old marketplace was. In the old days, merchants could be found here, distributing their goods to the citizens in exchange for money and supplies for their ships. That changed in the 1940's though, so my history teacher says, when the docks were built. Since then many of the structures had remained intact, still doing business today, and some were left as landmarks or attractions.

"Wow, I've never seen this part of the city before," Matt said upon entry.

"I come here sometimes for lunch," I pointed him towards the bank. "That's the bank over there. Hurry and get the money; fifth period starts in a few minutes."

He ran inside. While waiting, I started to think over my assignment for Mr. Mancini. I felt happy in the marketplace, so I quickly unzipped my bag and pulled out my sketchbook…or maybe that's the catch.

"He's probably expecting me to do this," I'm pretty sure that half the other students in the class, if they were doing an assignment like this, wouldn't have chosen something so obvious to him. "Nice try, Mr. Mancini. But when I hand you my drawing, I'm going to earn my grade."

"Molly, who are you talking to?"

I spun around. "Matt! Oh…um…how long have you been standing there?"

"Not long, the transaction was pretty quick," He said. "You okay? You look a little tense."

"It's…it's just my art class," He nodded. "I'm not the best artist, so it's…it's frustrating at times."

We walked back to school.

* * *

We approached the store. Matt had gotten a check from the bank, and all we had to do was give it to the owner and the store would be theirs to operate. It was so exciting. The city frequently held parties, which meant that people would be in need of nice clothes. And who better to come to than this store…with no name.

"Matt, what's the name of the store?" I asked.

"Well, it is about clothing, and it will become very popular, I'm guessing. What about…The Fashion Joint?"

"Really? Are you serious?"

"Okay…a little more thought…" He paced as he walked.

I snapped my finger. "What about…Mostly Clothing?"

"What if we merged the two—"

"And put it in Italian?" I finished. "What? My dad did that with the restaurant."

"Okay…Mostly Fashion…what's that in Italian?"

"Um…" My Italian class would pay off, although I never thought it would help. "Molto...Di Moda."

"Molto Di Moda." He repeated. "Wow, that actually sounds pretty good!"

We spotted Matt's mother waving at us from down the street. He pulled the check out of his pocket and waved it in the air to her. She was trying to yell to us about something happening, but the wind picked up simultaneously, drowning her voice out. The check was swept out of Matt's hand and flew helplessly through the air.

He ran after it. "No! I can't lose it!"

I wanted to help Matt but his mother stopped me. "What's wrong?"

"That's just it. There's _nothing_ wrong," She said. "It's even better than I expected!"

I followed her inside. She and the old lady who owned the store were just finishing up the papers. She looked very relieved, holding an envelope very tightly.

"This is quite extraordinary," She started. "I never expected you to buy the store from me."

"Buy?" My jaw dropped. The old lady smiled gently, and shook her hand.

"Thank you."

"Wait, so you're not mad?" I asked.

"Of course not, I've been trying to sell this place for years," She continued. "And I know exactly what I'm going to do with this money."

She walked out of the store humming an old tune, and upon departure Matt came back in, soaked from head to foot, and holding a piece of paper.

"I'm sorry, mom," He said. "The check got wet."

"Don't worry about it!" She said. "The place is ours!"

"What?" She went to hug him, but soon repelled due to his predicament. "But…I didn't give you the money yet."

"The place is _ours_ as in…I bought it!"

"With what?"

"Okay sit down, this is going to be long," We grabbed some chairs and pulled it up to the counter. "Two weeks ago when we started searching for a store, I bumped into a young woman, which scattered her papers. I helped her pick them up and we became indulged in conversation. She's the one who lead me to this place. Before we could part she asked if I could make her a dress for a ball, which apparently happens to be this evening, and that she would come to pick it up in due time, which she did earlier. But this…this is amazing…the money was just enough to pay off this place."

"Those papers…were they drawings?" I asked.

"Molly, are you on to something?" Matt whispered. I nodded back.

"Um…yes. Very good ones, actually. Why, do you know her?"

I crossed my arms. "Yeah…I do. Kind of."


	15. Fate's Irony

"It has to be her," I said to dad that evening. "Mr. Mancini's top student. Bianca."

Dad and I were laying in the hammock outside on the terrace that same evening, trying to figure out how the money came to be at Molto Di Moda. The weather was unexpectedly warm again, almost feeling like early summer for this bitter January.

"It's an unusually hefty payment for a dress, not to mention that it was enough to pay off the building," He said. "But why did she do it?"

"That's what bugs me," I said. "And how did she know?"

"Well, we did meet briefly at the awards ceremony last year, and she gave me that picture," He reflected. "You said she and Caitlyn bumped into each other and started to talk. Maybe she told her."

"But it's a handout, dad," I crossed my arms. "It still doesn't make sense."

"Molly…" He looked at me. "Sometimes in life you're forced to do things on your own. When you're offered help, you don't know whether to accept or reject. Truthfully, neither way is bad, but if you do accept, the only thing you can do is show generosity."

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" I jumped out of the hammock. Hammocks are tricky when trying to get out of them; they have the tendency of flipping the occupant over, and in this case, it did, but not to me. "I'm going to a ball tonight."

"Is that so?" He asked, getting up off of the ground. "Does it involve badgering the city's curator's granddaughter to death with questions?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Molly, I won't allow this."

"Dad, it's the only way I'll know for sure," I pleaded.

We stared at each other for a moment, and then I guess he finally gave up.

"Fine, alright," He mumbled something under his breath about me and mom. "But you're not going alone."

"I know."

* * *

I straightened the bow tie around Matthew's neck, and brushed the dust off of his shoulders. "There."

He looked at himself. "Is this necessary?"

"You'll have Molly to thank for that," I said. "And be careful with this suit. It's special."

"How special?"

"How about…'Me drowning you to death,' special," He jumped back.

"I'm ready."

Molly walked downstairs. From the sound of her shoes, she was wearing high heels, and she was wearing a lavender dress, which Caitlyn made, to compliment her hair. She walked up to Matt, who stared blankly at her.

"Matt?"

I snapped my finger repeatedly in front of his face. "Oh, um…sorry…wow Molly, you look beautiful."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"This is so wrong," I mumbled. "Your mother called ahead and cleared you for the ball, and I…yeah. Anyway—"

Danielle interrupted, walking through the front door holding a camera. 'Where are they—oh, perfect!' She immediately took a picture, flashing the two who only got a split second to break a smile. "Calvin, aren't you proud?"

"No. Anyway," I continued. "The ball begins at eight, so you better hurry." I gave Molly a matching pocketbook and the two went for the door. "Oh, and Matt…don't try anything stupid, alright?"

"What do you mean…wait, Mr. Winthrop! I-I would never do anything to—" Molly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out, shooting me a very pissed look.

"He's almost halfway there now, Molly!" I said, snickering. Danielle closed the door.

* * *

"My dad is such an idiot!" I growled.

We took the same gondola ride towards the museum, where the ball was being held. Invitations weren't needed for Alto Marian citizens; in fact, we were more like VIP than citizens. We walked into the museum, and were immediately greeted by hundreds of people. It would take a while before we found Bianca.

"Molly, you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, right?" Matt still hadn't gotten over that comment from my dad. I sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Of course not."

"Okay good. Now who are we looking for?"

"She's about our height, brown hair," He looked around. "And if you saw the dress your mother made, then she's wearing it."

"You mean her?" His stare became constant, and I followed his line of sight until I spotted her.

"Wow. Not bad," He turned red. "I meant the dress!"

We walked over to her. It was just a few questions, no harm in that. Okay, be calm. Don't try to scare her. Greet her with the utmost composure.

"Hi!" I blurted out. Fortunately she wasn't too surprised by this.

"Oh, hello again…Molly, right?"

"Yes," I shook her hand. "This is my friend, Matthew."

"Yes, we've met earlier," The two greeted each other. "I guess you're here to ask me about my unusually high payment for this dress."

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Well I'm no psychic, but I can see that you have no interest in an event like this," I laughed it off, but she was right. "I know it sounds unusual, but I had a feeling that you might need it. I apologize if I offended you."

"No harm done," Matt said. "Actually, my mother sends her regards."

She nodded in appreciation.

"Where's your grandfather?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, he couldn't attend tonight, so I'm acting as curator in his absence."

"Is it hard?"

"Excuse me, ma'am," A waiter came by. She cringed at the word "ma'am". "Do you mind if we start the music now? And there's a phone call for you."

She turned back to us. "I hate this job. Excuse me," She followed the waiter through the crowd. A couple of minutes later, the music started, and people joined hands to dance. Matt looked at me.

"How well do you dance?"

"Um…my dad taught me when I was younger—"

"Good enough!" I pulled him into the crowd.

* * *

The phone rang. I picked it up.

"Hello, Calvin."

"Who's this?" The voice was familiar, but I couldn't pin it on anyone.

"Have you forgotten me already? This is Lorenzo, from the museum."

"Oh. Hello Lorenzo," I said, relieved. "You know, it's good that you called actually. My daughter was looking for your granddaughter."

"She'll be at the ball until late this evening, but I need to speak to you," His voice now sounded urgent. "Would you mind joining me at the old antique store in the marketplace?"

"Um sure, I'll be right there," He hung up before I could get a chance to ask why. I put the receiver down, and looked back at Danielle.

"That was the city's curator, Lorenzo," I said. "He wants me to meet him at an old antique store in the marketplace."

'From the awards ceremony?' I nodded. 'Well there's no harm in that.'

I put on a blazer and stepped outside. It was a very pleasant evening, so I decided to walk to the marketplace. I tried to wonder why Lorenzo wanted me, and so urgently. Did it have something to do with the store Caitlyn bought? I guess he just wanted to know why the transaction had been done in the first place, but until Molly found out, I really didn't know. I cut through her school and walked across a bridge to the opposite street. The street was built into the side of the buildings, while following a canal that ran beneath. In ancient times, they used this segment, which in turn used to be a repair shop, to fix any damage that had been done to the masts of the ships from storms or low clearance obstacles. Once done, the ships proceeded to the marketplace to unload goods, upon which I entered at that same moment. Lorenzo's meeting point, an antique store across the way, was very dilapidated, and was one of the very few buildings that were overlooked in the restoration. But now work was being done, and scaffolding covered the building from the ground up. I walked inside; the wooden boards beneath my feet creaked and crackled with every footstep.

"Hello?" I called. "Lorenzo, are you here? Look, if this is about that dress your granddaughter bought, I honestly don't know anything about it."

"Calvin," He revealed himself. "What are you talking about?"

"O-kay, so you don't know either," I scratched my head. "Why did you call me here?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask you something before you went on about the dress my granddaughter bought," He said. I became confused.

"In an old…antique building?"

"Yes, it's the most secluded place to chat."

"About…?"

"Tell me, Calvin," He turned on a light fixture in the corner and sat on a stool. "How exactly did you come to know about Latios and Latias?"

"I'd love to know too," Sure enough, there was Bianca. These two read me like a book!

* * *

"Isn't it strange that she was indulged in a phone call all night?" Matt asked me as we walked back home that evening.

"More like coincidence, if you ask me."

We stopped at his house.

"I really had a great time, Matt," I said. "Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"I'd love that."

We both said our goodbyes, and I walked the short length back to my house. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Danielle and we were immediately lost in chat. Matt was the most polite guy I ever met. And he was a great dancer. From the way he described his father, it must've been very hard on him when he passed away. When I got back to the purpose of me going to the ball in the first place, I confessed to her, and then realized that I hadn't fulfilled it just yet. _Where _did Bianca get the 'feeling' to purchase a dress for the exact same amount of money it would take to pay off the store?

'Maybe it was just plain generosity.'

"That's what dad said." I replied. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

'Oh, he stepped out for the evening. He went to go see the city's curator.'

"Did he say where?"

'In the marketplace.'

I shrugged. "Well, maybe he and I shared the same thoughts."

I yawned and bid her goodnight, and then retreated to my room to get some sleep. I dreamt about actually going on a date with Matt, because, as his mother obviously stated, it was only a matter of time before the boyfriend/girlfriend denials were thrown aside and we made it official. He also reminded me of myself in a way.

'_I told you it was destiny.'_

"Stop rubbing it in, Latias," I mumbled. "Go away."

'_Or how about…love at first sight?'_

I groaned, and covered my head with my pillow. "Why do you always have to be right?"

She started to laugh. I then realized that she had to have been in my room to be having this conversation, or…

"No you're not in my dream!" I jumped up out of my sleep. She continued laughing, laying on the edge of my bed. I threw a pillow at her. "What are you doing here?"

Her laughter died away. 'Molly…is it okay if I tell you something?'

"Sure, anything."

'Because…' She cleared her throat. 'I've been hiding a secret from you for some time.'

"How long…?"

"Um…'as long as I've known you' long?"

_

* * *

_

Meanwhile…

"You said you've known her for how long?" Lorenzo asked.

"Over ten years," Calvin said. "Eleven come this June…but why do you want to know?"

"Because," He stood up. "I've known her since I was a boy."

_On Molly's side…_

"How come you never told me?" Molly asked. "Wait…your human form…is this who you take after?"

'Yes,' She said. 'I'm sorry Molly. I know I should've told you sooner, but we've both been so preoccupied with other things that it slipped my mind.'

"And let me guess," I put the pieces together. "It was you who told Bianca about the store?"

'I thought it would help if she knew,' She said. 'But when I told her, she became frightened, and I think she might've taken it the wrong way.'

"How bad?"

_On Calvin's side…_

"I don't trust you," Bianca said hotly. "What if you're out to hurt her?"

"That's the last thing I would do to her," I said. "She's helped me out a lot and I owe her my gratitude."

"Then why don't I believe you?"

_Simultaneously…_

"Fine." Calvin said. "I'll just have to show you."

"Fine." Molly said. "We'll just have to show them."

* * *

Latias and I waited patiently in the garden. She glided around for a while until she heard something and returned to me.

'Here they come.'

"Okay if I'm here, won't that just make things worse for dad?" I asked.

'On the contrary, it gives them a better understanding,' She replied. 'Why, are you nervous?'

"More like terrified."

Once they all appeared, dad came to comfort me. Latias quickly sought to set the matter straight, and we all began telling our little pieces of the story until we found out that none of our intentions meant to hurt anyone. Bianca and Lorenzo took deep breaths, and we followed.

"This is…very interesting," Lorenzo finally said. "You know, you intrigued me and my granddaughter earlier in the year, but I let it slip. You seemed like such a sophisticated gentleman the first time we met."

"Sophisticated," Dad chuckled. "Right."

"I, however, _I_ did not take this so lightly," Bianca said. "There are only a handful of people whom we've entrusted with this secret, so I found it very unlikely that you found out on your own."

"I feel just the same way," Dad replied. "In fact Latias and I met very casually, at the park ten years ago."

'It's true,' She said. 'He caught on to my disguise pretty quickly.'

Bianca frowned for a moment, and then turned red out of embarassment. "Am I really that predictable?" Latias giggled. "Molly, can you tell Ms. Morgan that I really love her dress?"

I took notice of the last name, but now I was deprived of sleep and was probably delusional. I yawned. "Sure. Anyway, I really should be getting back to sleep. I have school…today."

"You go on home, Molly," Dad said. "I got it from here."

'I'll take her,' Latias picked me up and before I knew it, I was back in my room. She placed me down on my bed. 'Anything else?'

"Are you sure everything's okay now?" I asked. She nodded. "I hope Bianca and I see eye to eye."

'Of course you will,' She said. 'Bianca is a great friend, and I'm sure she'll share the same feelings with you.'

I shrugged. "Goodnight, Latias."

'Goodnight, Molly.'


	16. Man Hunt

That forest that we had traversed during our short time in Johto had somewhat returned to normal, after a fierce battle rocked its world last year. The helicopter crash remained and the damage done by it; the twisted metal and raging fire was reduced to nothing but rust and fire damage, but the forest was doing its job by moving on and small plants and grass had started to grow back. Staraptor and I landed in that fateful site and searched for anything that might tell us where Morgan went.

"Nothing," I emerged from the wreckage. "Everything was destroyed in the crash."

There was one other place to look: where this helicopter was headed and where we had been brought to for imprisonment. I climbed back onto Staraptor and he took to the sky. The closest mountain range was to the northwest. There was another idea on my mind. If Morgan had escaped, there should've been a second exit somewhere on the face of the mountain. But as we grew closer, it would take months to explore all of these mountains.

"Staraptor, we're going to have to split up to cover more ground," We landed. "I don't remember exactly where we came from, because we were in sort of a rush…try northwest first," He nodded, and took to the sky.

I never liked hiking. Even as a trainer, I always prayed that I would reach civilization soon because mountains wore the hell out of me and my team. My feelings remain unchanged now that I'm a grown man, but at least I have some help from a little thing I like to call the Archaic Sword. I strolled along the edge of the canyon in search of a secret exit. For all we knew, this base could've gone on for miles under the mountains, and in theory that made a good cover. Maybe we were looking for the wrong descriptions. The base recently collapsed under the force of the sparring match between Rayquaza and Latias, so all I had to do was look for any major unusual earth displacement.

Mom was leaving tomorrow to head back home. She said the house felt very empty with only herself there from time to time, and when I asked where dad was, she told me that he was in Mossdeep City. I didn't question any further. It was dad's prerogative to fulfill his dreams, and when he did he dropped off the face of the earth. Suddenly the path beneath me crumbled, and before I could jump out of danger I was pulled down into the canyon. I had to think fast before I fell to my death. I pulled out the sword and struck it into the canyon wall, and slid to a halt.

'That battle must've destabilized this entire area,' I thought.

I pulled the sword from the wall and carved out some lines, forming a ladder and climbed back up onto the path. I lay there for a while, thinking about my life.

"I _do_ need to give Danielle a raise."

"Star!"

Staraptor circled in the sky above me. Looks like this search just got a whole lot easier.

* * *

I woke up that morning, catching my senses and remembering what had happened a few nights before. Or was it just a dream?

"Dad?" I walked over to his room, but he wasn't in there. "Dad?" I called again, searching the house. Grandma was here, but he wasn't. "Grandma, have you seen dad?"

"Oh he came to me quite early this morning," She replied. "Said he had an errand to run and left in a bit of a rush. What was strange is that he had this—how should I put it—sword, strapped to his back as if he was going off into battle."

"Oh, never mind then," I said, smiling. "He's just probably gone off to the expo at the museum…they have a ton of them there."

It made no sense to her, but she took it anyway. It was only a matter of time before grandma saw through our lies. I went back upstairs and got dressed, and then went to the museum. Something didn't feel right. Now that it wasn't a dream, I could've sworn I heard Bianca say "Mrs. Morgan", as in Matthew's mother, Caitlyn. I arrived at the museum at a quarter past ten. Bianca's grandfather, Lorenzo, was in the library section, walking around as visitors and tourists alike studied the various documents that led to the formation of the city. He spotted me and smiled. "Good morning, Molly."

"Hello," I said. "Is Bianca here?"

"No, she's at the academy," He replied. "She's teaching a special Saturday class for young artists."

'That would be great to attend,' I thought. "Can I join?"

"Well if you hurry, you may be able to catch something."

So I left the museum, walked three canals over and turned onto the street that led to my school.

* * *

I approached Mr. Mancini's classroom, as all the signs said to do, and stood in the doorway. Bianca was walking around monitoring everyone's progress. Not only was she a great artist, but if she was a teacher I would have never second-guessed this class.

"Gentle strokes, everyone," She said. "You must take your time with paintings such as these."

"You're doing a marvelous job, Bianca," Mr. Mancini added. I knocked on the door. "Come in, Melinda."

Bianca turned around. "Oh, hello Molly. Is everything alright?"

"Very," I replied. "In fact, I was wondering if I could join your class."

"Sure. Find a station."

I found a station on the other side of the classroom, adjacent to Matthew's station. He looked at me in surprise, but I reassured him that it was for my extra credit project. I needed a motive—a rainforest maybe. Trees were easy to draw; the only hard part was illustrating the rain. And with these hands, a simple creek would turn to a tsunami. I went on with the idea anyway, starting off with multiple tree trunks and then extending to their branches, each of them being overlapped by those of the tree in the foreground. As the branches thinned, I drew leaves. This was really coming along great in my mind. I kept drawing, illustrating the bark on the trees, the roots that snaked around on the ground and the path between them, meant for fictitious travelers.

"Wow, Molly," Matthew said, leaning over. "You picture is starting to look pretty good."

"Really?" He nodded. "Thanks."

I continued. This looked batter as a sketch than it did with paint, so I kept it that way. Fine streaks with the pencil made the rain. After a few months in this class, I was doing pretty well for myself.

After I was finished Bianca wrapped up her teaching session, but reassured us that she would return for every Saturday throughout the semester. Everyone left her class while Matt waited for me by the door.

"Nice job, Molly," She said, taking my picture in my arms.

"Indeed," Mr. Mancini added. "Keep this up and you'll pass that extra credit assignment in no time."

"Um…thanks," I yelled in my head. I thought for sure he'd accept this one. "Bianca, can I speak you for a minute?"

"Sure," We sat on some stools in the back of the class. "What's the matter?"

"A few nights ago," I started. "You mentioned that you got your dress from Mrs. Morgan. What did that mean?"

"You know, Caitlyn Morgan," She replied. "Why, you thought they were two different people?"

"Almost," We both chuckled. "Thanks for clearing that up."

"Oh, Molly," We both got up. "A question for you, if you don't mind," I shook my head. "Can we consider ourselves…friends?"

"Of course," I said. She smiled. "I'd really like that."

She waved me goodbye and I joined Matt at the door. I chatted with him as we walked back to his mother's store.

* * *

"So this it," I peered down into a newly carved entrance. The walls were reinforced with steel, which had buckled under the pressure of the collapse, but it was intact enough to explore. "Staraptor, you wait here at the entrance. I won't be long."

I pulled a flashlight out of my pocket and flicked it on. There was rubble everywhere, so I jumped over some rocks and slid down to the bottom. The shaft was shaped as if it were meant for a plane, and angled up to the sky. When I got to bottom, the shaft ceiling had buckled heavily; almost impassable at points. I pushed forward anyway, and eventually came into the remains of a large hangar. There were planes here, but were rendered inoperable from the impact of rubble. Dripping water echoed throughout the area. A set of stairs on the other side of the room looked accessible. These led down to that sparring area that I saw before. The ceiling had caved in, filling half of the room up, however the pathway that I emerged from was still visible. I had to make this quick; going further into this mountain and making too much noise would cut off my only exit. Plus, It was getting more and more difficult to breathe.

'Let's see what I can find on you, Morgan,' I thought.

I walked the hallway, cutting around more rubble, looking for the room that was used to analyze the sword. If I hadn't destroyed everything so fast, I could've learned something myself. There it was, to my left, and I slipped through the doorway. I spun the flashlight around, hoping that if this wasn't purely the digital age, these scientists would've had one mind to jot down some information on paper. Nothing I could find on the desks, however there were some freshly printed sheets still in the printer. I picked them up, and looked at them. They were files on Morgan himself—the scientists must've gotten suspicious of his motives—and a few other interesting documents: his mysterious pokémon and some of his plans. I studied these quick and shoved them into my pocket. I was starting to feel lightheaded.

* * *

Staraptor flew high in the sky over the beach as I looked through the documents. Morgan didn't have any past that these scientists could dig up, except that he was married. The wedding photo was too blurred to get a good picture of his spouse, but I had passed a photo shop on the way into town that took care of these types of pictures. I stacked up all the documents and took them with me to the store.

"Hello," I said, entering.

"Good morning," The clerk replied. "What can I do for you today, sir?"

"I was wondering if you could digitally enhance this image," I placed it on the counter. He picked it up and looked at it.

"Yes, it's possible," He said. "…give or take an hour."

"Thanks."

* * *

Mrs. Morgan, as I saw fit to call her now, was driven to boredom, standing behind the counter and reading a magazine. There were very few dresses on display that she made herself, but it would take months for that to change. I walked up to her, curious about her last name. While I had walked with Matthew to her store, it started to give me thoughts and I felt I needed some clarific.

"Mrs. Morgan?"

"Hm?" Well that was definitely her last name.

"…Is everything okay?" I couldn't push myself to ask her.

"It's a slow day," She replied. "However two people came in today and were fitted for dresses."

"That sounds good."

"Really?" She asked. "Because…honestly I thought there would be…more."

"Three days after you opened?" She shrugged. "Two fittings in one day is a great start."

"Well," She checked her watch. "With your words of wisdom, I'll surely have more visitors tomorrow. Would you help me lock up?"

"Of course," We spent a couple of minutes locking up the store and the three of us walked back home. I asked if I could come by, where hopefully, I would ask her.

"So how did your Saturday class go, Matthew?"

"Oh, it was great," He said. "I drew an open field."

"Kind of plain."

"Yeah, but it was nothing compared to Molly's picture," I blushed. "You should've seen the rainforest she drew."

"It was nothing, really," I whipped it out of my bag anyway. "Bianca said it was pretty good, and I'm happy with it. Now I have to start my extra credit project."

"What do you plan to draw?" He asked.

"I don't know yet. I haven't thought about it much."

When we arrived at their house, I found that in the time range, a majority of the boxes had been emptied and furniture was unwrapped. It was slowly turning from a storage unit into a home. Mrs. Morgan offered me something to drink, which I took, and then revved up to ask her the question.

"Mrs. Morgan, could you tell me about Matt's father?" I said quickly.

"Wow, it's been a while since someone's asked me that," She said. "Most of the time he was caught up in his work, but he always found time for Matthew. He really looks up to his father."

"He never told me that."

"Yeah, he doesn't speak much about him," She continued. "He was the hardest hit when he passed away. You know, Cora was a gift for his sixth birthday."

"He told me," I really didn't want to ask this next question, but it wasn't getting any better from this point. "His father was a scientist?"

"A scientist with a lot of ambition, yes," She said. "There was this one project that he was working on before he passed away that just ate at him until he figured it all out. Here, I have a family photo."

I walked with her to the living room, where she picked up a picture off of the coffee table and gave it to me. The portrait was taken in Olivine City more than ten years ago. Mrs. Morgan looked the same as she did now, something I would have to tell her later, and Matt was still just a kid with a Chikorita tugging at the edge of his jeans. It was a beautiful portrait…until I looked at his father. Then the entire moment changed.

* * *

"Here you go, sir," The clerk said, handing me an enhanced version of the photo. "This a friend of yours?"

I looked at the picture and sighed. "You could say that."

I left the store and looked at the picture again. Morgan's spouse looked like Caitlyn—it _was_ Caitlyn, actually. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Morgan married her, and their eventual son Matthew…was now Molly's best friend. She would be devastated to hear the news. Of course, they were all victims in Morgan's madness. Morgan faked his death and abandoned his family, and with his whereabouts unknown at the moment, I couldn't just go and tell them this. Now that I knew, I changed my mind and decided to keep this secret. I walked over to the pokémon center and called home.

"Danielle," I called. "Hey, can I speak to—"

'Calvin, oh thank god you called!'

Her voice sounded urgent. "Is everything alright, Danielle?"

'Molly needs you,' She said. 'She wants you home, now.'

"Okay okay, just calm down," I said. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

I hung up and ran down to the beach, found Staraptor and took off towards Alto Mare.


	17. The Drawing

"Danielle, I'm here," I ran in. "What's the problem?"

'It's Molly,' She pointed out to the hammock on the terrace. 'I don't know what happened, she just…she just came in earlier, crying and didn't want to talk to anyone but you.'

"It's okay, I got this," She nodded, and I walked out onto the terrace. Molly was still crying, but it was more of a sob. She looked up. "Molly, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," She sniffed.

There was a moment of silence.

"So let me get this straight," I paced. "You called me, all the way from Johto, just to tell me that you don't want to have this conversation? Oh no. Sit up. Whatever it is can't be that serious—"

"Matthew Morgan."

I paused. "Excuse me?"

"Matthew's last name is _Morgan_," She cried. "His father is Ely Morgan!"

She must've had her own suspicions and found out sometime today. "Molly…I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

"Wait, you knew?"

"I only found out today," I said in my defense. "I dug up some information, and a picture, and I put the pieces together."

"Why?" She yelled. "Of all people, why did it have to be them? Everything was going great until I…" She ran into my arms. "Dad, please tell me what to do!"

"I…" I honestly didn't have the answer to that question. If it was anything else, I could, but pertaining to her past…there were still so many unanswered questions that it made it hard for me to give her advice. I sighed. "Molly, I…I don't know."

"What?"

"This is your past, not mine," I said. "I can't give you any advice if I don't know the answers. Look," I knelt down. "I'm your father. I'll always be there for you, but this time I can't fulfill that. It's your call, Molly."

I hugged her back. She continued crying.

* * *

The next morning on the last of the month, Mrs. Giordano's class ended exceptionally early. I didn't notice the bell and continued drawing my picture. She came by and looked at it.

"My my," She rubbed my shoulder. "This is an interesting picture, Melinda."

I nodded. I was very close with Mrs. Giordano, so she could sense when something was wrong. She pulled up a chair, and sat next to me.

"What's going on, Melinda?"

"Nothing," I said. "I'm just…into my picture."

"Come on, I know you better than that," She said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I started to tear up again. "Not really."

She rubbed my head. "Okay then," She got up and led me to the door. "Hurry on to Mr. Mancini's class before you're late. And Melinda…"

I turned back. "Yes?"

"I'm here if you ever want to talk, alright?"

I thought about it and smiled.

I walked over to Mr. Mancini's class and sat down through the period. I spotted Matt in the back of the class trying desperately to get my attention, but when I looked at him, a vivid picture of his father flashed through my eyes. I quickly turned back and buried my head in a textbook until class was over. Mr. Mancini called me up to his desk.

"Your picture, Melinda?"

I paused for a moment.

* * *

"I wish I could stay longer, dear," Mom said, walking towards the ferry. "I hate to leave on such short notice, especially without telling Molly."

"It's alright, she'll understand," I said. "She's got a lot on her mind right now, but I'm sure she'll take it the right way. It was really nice having you over for Christmas and New Years."

"And I'll do it next year too," She said, hugging me. "Come visit us sometime, huh Calvin?"

"Of course."

The gangway retracted and the ferry blew its horn, marking its departure. I waved mom goodbye until she was out of eyesight, and then walked back into town. I should've asked her for her advice on Molly's situation with Matthew. Damn, what were the chances that this boy was Ely Morgan's son? That's the worst of luck on us, especially for her. From the looks of it, she was just starting to really get to know him. My view of Morgan's family will never change, but for Molly it was a different story. The big question still remained though.

What would she choose?

* * *

I placed the picture on Mr. Mancini's desk. He was looking at the picture of a teenage girl standing in the middle of an endless hallway, with heavy uninviting brick walls and an essence of depression which made even him shiver. What really seemed to strike him though was the shadow of the girl. It looked like the silhouette of a large and fierce pokémon. He had never seen anything like it, but I didn't have time to explain it and walked towards the door.

"Melinda, what's the meaning of this picture?" He asked. I continued out of his classroom. "Melinda?"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed reading.**


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